The Familiar Times
by The Uncreative
Summary: The byproduct of having an idea and the free time to write. Saito crosses through the familiar summoning gate once more, only to find himself meeting Louise for the first time once again.
1. Beginnings

Author Notes:

While this author's note does not contain any spoilers, one in the future might. Read at your own risk!

Here it is, my first fan fiction. This whole idea behind this story was a mixture of several things. Zero no Tsukaima got me reading various fan fictions, The Hill of Swords got me interested in writing my own story, and Blazblue gave me an idea for the story. After that it was only a matter of me being bored enough and having enough free time to write this.

I tried to keep this as close to the original source material as possible, with one exception, so if your only familiar with the anime and you're shocked that I left out some events, or changed the timing on other, then go out and read the light novels. Read, review, leave feedback, and enjoy the story!

1: Beginnings

I really need to learn not to let my curiosity get the better of me. The last time it did, I was sucked into this world and forced into what some would consider slavery. I don't know what I thought would happen when I saw the portal that appeared today. I shouldn't be surprised by what happened, considering these portals seem to be able to reach across worlds, it should be no surprise what happened this time.

Just like the time before, it all started with the glowing portal appearing before me. I was walking through the forest, heading towards Ragdorian Lake when it appeared.

_Weird_, I thought. _Isn't this the summoning gate?_

My natural curiosity blocked out my common sense, as it tends to do, and I decided that I had to investigate this portal. What's the worst that could have happened, right? I tend to have a habit of seriously underestimating just how horrible things can get.

Some introductions may first be necessary. I am Saito Hiraga. I am a Gandalfar, a legendary familiar with the ability to wield any nonmagical weapon with ease. I am the familiar of Louise Vallière, one of the few nobles in this world that can use the legendary Void magic. My job is to protect her while she casts her spells. Though when I was first summoned, we got along... poorly, to put it mildly. As time went on eventually it got better, or worse, depending on your interpretation of the events.

Just like the time I was summoned, this portal led me to an explosion. When I stopped being unconscious, I was lying down in a grassy field. I sat up and noticed that there were a lot of people present.

"As expected. She can't even succeed in summoning a familiar! She really is a zero!" Said a red-haired familiar face who goes by the name of Kirche.

"Wait! What's that in the smoke? Is that...?" Said another familiar face with curly blonde hair, her name is Momtmorency.

The smoke cleared and everyone immediately focused their eyes on me. For a moment, there was absolute silence. Within five seconds, everyone burst into laughter.

"She summoned a commoner!"

"What a failure!"

"She can't even summon correctly!" The crowed laughed out.

I'm too confused by what's going on to point out that I may not be a mage, but I'm definitely not a commoner.

"Sh-Shut up! It's just a mistake! I just need to try again!" Said a voice I knew all too well.

"I'm sorry, I can't let that happen. This is a sacred ritual after all. I can't simply allow do-overs. Continue the ritual." I saw that the person who said that was the teacher of these people. Mr. Colbert tends to leave the impression of being a teacher with his glasses and bookish nature.

"But-"

"No buts!" Said Colbert. "Continue."

The peach haired girl look straight at me with a look of anger, embarrassment, and disappointment. It was the same look she had when we first met.

I decided to speak up for the first time, "Um, don't any of you recognize me? You all seem to act like you don't know me."

Colbert gave me a good stare down. "What an... interesting language it's speaking."

"See? It can't even speak our language! How is it supposed to be a familiar when it can't even understand what I'm asking of it?" Said the peach haired girl.

"What? Of course I understand what you're saying! How else could I respond!" I said. I was so confused that I didn't notice that they all refered to me as an "it." It made no sense to me, how could I understand them, but they can't understand me?

The peach haired girl looked at me and sighed, resigned to the fact that the ritual must continue. "Consider yourself lucky, a noble like me would never be caught doing this to a commoner like you." She said with a visible blush on her face. She then began to lean in.

"What are you taking ab-" Than our lips made contact. She seemed to want to get out of their as fast as possible, and separated at the first possible moment. Immediately, a pain went through my body and my left hand felt like it was engulfed in flame. I realized that the peach haired girl had just made me into her familiar. Louise made me her familiar once again.

*Scene Break*

Several hours, one failed silence spell and one explosion later, People were able to understand me and I was sitting in Louise's room.

"So Louise-" I began.

"Stupid dog! You think you can call me by name? I'm you master! I should be called as such! But you still haven't answer my question, who are you?"

"Me? I'm Saito Chevalier De Hiraga Des Ornières." Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have said my full name, no matter how awesome it was.

"W-w-what? You're a noble?"

"Before I answer that, I have my own question for you."

"And that would be?"

"Could you explain to me what happened?" considering I had a theory, but no solid proof yet.

"I told you," said Louise in a rather angry tone of voice. "Today was the day that us second year students summon our familiars to serve us and you are the one I summoned." At this statement she sighed. "Why couldn't I have gotten something cool like a griffon or a dragon?"

'Interesting' I thought to myself. "I just have one question."

"What might that be _dog_?" She said putting as much venom into that last word as possible.

"Who's the current princess of Tristania?" I asked. I already knew the answer, but confirmation would confirm my theory. I hoped she didn't say what I already knew she would say.

Her response was to quizzically raise an eyebrow. "You don't know? The princess is Her highness Princess Henrietta of course."

"She's not the queen?" I asked, my hopes dropping as I realized what was happening.

"Of course not!" said Louise "Henrietta's mother... who's name I just realized I don't know, is the queen!"

At those words I felt myself start to lose consciousness at the sudden realization. I had somehow traveled back to when I first met Louise. I did what any person in my position would do, and promptly passed out from information overload.

*Scene Break*

After I came to, I explained to a worried looking (It actually shocked me that Louise at this time was worried about my health) Louise why I had passed out.

"I don't buy it." That quickly passed and was replaced by annoyance when I told her the truth. "So, you're not only from another world..."

"That statement is correct." I calmly explained to her.

"But you're also from some point in the future?" She stared at me with doubt and resentment in her eyes.

"Also true." I stated.

"How am I supposed to believe you? How am I supposed to believe these ridiculous claims?" She asked.

"Hmmm." I tried to think of how I could prove either one of those statements. Proving just one could lend credence to the other claim. I didn't have my laptop this time, so that was out of the question. Then it hit me. Something I shouldn't be able to know at his point that could prove one claim.

"Oh well. I guess I can't prove either claim." I said shrugging my shoulders.

"I thought so," said Louise. "For lying to your master, no breakfast for three days."

"Fair enough. By the way, How's your arranged fiancé, Viscount Wardes?" I said, trying, and nearly failing, to keep a grin off my face.

"W-what? How did you know?" Louise's face almost made this situation worth it.

"At this point, I shouldn't. I don't find out for another week or two when we meet." I calmly explain.

"Eh? Wardes comes to the academy?" Louise's face was now colored with several shades of red and pink. It almost made this whole situation worth it. It looked like her mind imploded in on itself.

"While I leave you to think about this, I'll take a stroll around the academy if that's all right. It's oddly nostalgic seeing the academy like this."

Without waiting for an answer, I walked towards the door opened it and left without a word, leaving Louise to sit on her bed, blushing and looking like she just found out her best friend is an alien.

*Scene Break*

The academy was much the same as it was the first time I was here. Guiche was flirting with that first year like the first time, Katie was her name. He wasn't happy when I interrupted their private time by walking through the hallway. I also ran into Siesta doing her maid thing. I introduced myself, then realized I should probably get back to Louise's room before she got upset. When I got there I was greeted by the sight of her looking rather upset while standing in the center of the room, wand in hand.

"Well, I have decided to believe your story. There is simply no other way that you could have known about Wardes." Said Louise.

"Thank you master."

"However, that does not mean you are exempt from the chores you will have to do, seeing as you are incapable of any of the other of the functions that other familiars are capable of. A commoner like you is unlikely to know what reagents I will need and you could probably not even fight off a crow. Why are you smiling like that?"

"No reason." I tried my best to kill the smile. "I'm just overcome with nostalgia. Would you happen to have some paper and something to write with?"

Louise looked a little surprised. "What for?"

I decided to answer honestly. "I want to make a list or everything that happens in my timeline. This way I can know what's going to happen and plan accordingly."

Louise nodded her head. "That would be smart. This way we can stop any of the more horrific events from-"

"That won't work." Noticing her surprise I began to explain, "First, who besides us would believe that I'm from the future? That's not the thing that happens on a regular basis. You, my own master, didn't believe me until I proved it with that Wardes comment." And even then I'm not completely convinced she believes me, but we'll work on that. "If we try to talk to people and stop them from starting something bad, there is no way they would believe us. Second, If we try and prevent something from happening, something else that we're not prepared for might happen and the timeline skews into someplace much worse."

Louise hung her head. "I suppose your right. We can't just stop things from happening and expect only positive outcomes."

She went and got me a some paper and a quill and ink to write with. I began writing down all the events I remember happening, in the order I remember them happening. Louise tried looking over my shoulder like a curious kitten trying to find out what I was writing.

"I don't understand," She said in an angry tone. "I can't read your writing. What language is that? Is it from your world?"

I respond by nodding and continuing to write. Eventually my list is finished. I give the ink a minute to dry, then fold the paper and put it in my pocket.

"Good that's done," Louise says. "But why are you writing in that language? Did you never learn how to write in our language?"

I chuckle to myself and shake my head. "Nothing like that. I am capable of reading and writing in this language, though with some difficulty, I just took a precaution. After all, if this list were to fall into bad hands, even if they don't know what it means, if they figure it out, there could be serious consequences. That, and experience has taught me to be careful who you trust." My mind flashes back to Fouquet, Wardes, and Julio and how well those situations went.

As I said this, Louise looks saddened and upset. "You mean, You don't trust me?" She looked close to both tears, and grabbing the nearest item and beating me over the head with it. How dare I, her supposedly loyal to a fault familiar, not trust her?

A smile appears across my face, "To the contrary, I trust you more than anyone here."

Louise looks at me and appears to be mollified. "You trust me? Really?"

"You are the only person in this world who I would trust my life too."

Louise tries to suppress a gasp of surprise. "Wh-Why do you trust me so much? You barely know me!" Weird, first she's upset that I don't trust her, and now she's upset that I trust her with my life? She always was good at contradicting herself.

"You might have figured it out, being as sharp as you are, but this isn't my first time as a familiar. My previous master helped me realize that the trust between a familiar and their master is possibly the most important thing in the world." I stop when I notice something odd about my left hand.

"Huh. That's strange." I remark offhandedly.

"What? What's strange?" Louise asks, clearly a little upset at my sudden change of topic.

"My scar's gone" I tell her. It wasn't the real problem, but we could get to that later.

"Scar?"

"I was here for years. After a few battles, scars are likely to appear." I try my best to not sound like I'm completely making this up. Even though I am.

"And it's not there anymore?"

"Actually, they all appear to be gone."

"What?" Louise asked. "You had multiple scars? How many fights were you in?"

"A few." I remark casually, the battle with the army of 70,000 stands out at the front of my mind. "To be fair, most of the scars came from my last master." I'm impressed that I'm able to keep this conversation going, even though I completely made up the thing about the scars.

"What? Your master attacked you?" Louise looked like she was just told her best friend was really a psychopathic murderer. Not all too far off of an assumption really.

"Well, not 'attacked' per say, it was more for disciplinary reasons." I tried to stay as calm as possible remembering all the pain I had undergone by Louise's hands throughout the years.

"Discipline? But you seem so well behaved." Louise looked like she was trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle she only had two pieces to.

I smile and shake my head. "Think of it this way, if you were taken from your family and brought to a whole other world and was told to do the laundry, and other assorted chores or your wouldn't be fed, you would whipped or blown up would you want to do it?" I gave her a glare that tried to convey the message, "Do you get it? Because you didn't last time."

"No," Louise looked like she was finally starting to get it. "Wait, why did your master attack you with whips and strikes? Wouldn't it have been better to use magic?"

I flinched. I had been expecting this question and had to form my answer carefully. "Master... wasn't the best mage in the world." I explained, choosing my words carefully. "It was just easier to use physical force instead of exerting unnecessary effort into something that wouldn't work well. Even after substantially improving in magic, whips and kicks were sort of a habit."

Louise looked a little uneasy. "He must have been pretty big to be able to do that kind of things so easily."

I had to physically hold back laughter at that statement. "Actually it was a girl, and no, she wasn't very tall. She was about your height, maybe an inch or two taller."

Louise seemed to perk up at the idea of someone her size and sex being able to so easily beat up someone like myself.

"What was she like?" Louise's eyes were drilling into me, asking me for more information like a dog begs for more bacon at dinner. I would have to word this reply very carefully. I didn't want her to know all the details. Not yet anyway.

"She was tough and quick to anger, but also incredibly sweet, caring and beautiful. If someone important to her was in trouble, she would due everything in her power to help them. She also knew that I wasn't just some dog that she could command and beat at her pleasure. Well, she figured that out after longer than I would have liked," a shiver went down my spine as my body recalled the pain, but I continued, "She was dutiful and never forgot what she had sent out to accomplish. She did all she could to make sure the job was done." I said almost nostalgically, despite the fact that my previous master was in the same room.

Louise seemed like she was nursing an idea in her head and deciding whether to ask me about it or not. She steeled her resolve and opened her mouth.

"Did you love her?" She asked bluntly.

Surprised by the bluntness of her question, I was struck temporarily speechless.

Louise blushed and looked down. "I-It just sound like you think really highly of her."

I took a breath and decided to answer honestly.

"Yes, I did love her. She loved me too, you know. She tried to find a way to get me back home, even though we both knew we didn't want to be separated. She just wanted to help me." At least I think that's what her motivation was.

"Did you find a way back?"

"Yes, but I stayed. I had to protect her, and by the time I found out how to return, I had grown too used to life here to leave."

"What was her name?"

I laughed to myself at the question. Louise was startled by my laughter.

"Wh-What's so funny?"

"You haven't figured it out yet? Frankly Louise, I'm disappointed. If she were here, she would have figured it out already." Well, she was here, but I didn't want her to know that yet. Then an idea came to my head. "Actually, how about a deal?"

"A deal?" Louise looked a little uneasy about what this deal could be.

"If you can figure out the name of my previous master, I will answer any question you have about my past, er... This world's future. Just keep your answer to yourself. Sleep on it. I'll ask again in the morning."

Louise nodded her head. "That's a fair deal."

I smiled "It's a bet. Now go to sleep, Maybe the name will come to you in a dream. If you don't mind, I'll sleep right here." I pointed to the spot on the floor I slept on for so long back then.

Louise hesitated, then nodded. She crawled into her bed and fell asleep. I curled up on the floor and stared at my left hand. 'These runes,' I thought to myself, 'Why are the runes from after the false motive was erased?' I noticed the difference almost immediately, and I made up the scar thing. There wasn't a need for Louise to know about false motives. 'I just made the contract, so shouldn't the runes be their original form?'

_Well, your mind's already been messed with, remember? No point in a false motive if you already know what's going to be affected._

What? Was someone transmitting into my head? Was I being controlled?

_Nope. I'm your inner monologue. Since you can't have a false motive, you get me instead. Think of me as your conscious. Like that cricket in that one movie._

'What do you mean I can't have a false motive?'

_Well there were really only two options for your false motive. Option one: Block out the memories of your home world._

'That's what I had last time.'

_That is exactly why it won't work this time, you would already be aware of it being fake. Option 2: Have you fall in love with Louise._

'Which wouldn't work for obvious reasons.'

_Exactly. That's why you don't have a false motive. You get me instead._

'So, instead of having my memories altered, I'm schizophrenic?'

_No, your conscious has just been made a bit more loud and clear, so you can hear me._

I don't know whether to be scared at the fact that I'm hearing voices, or amazed at the fact that I can actually have conversations with my conscious. I decide on the later, and go to sleep.

*Louise POV*

I really didn't know just what to think. I thought my familiar was the worst thing ever. A commoner as a familiar! How stupid could you get? I never though he would be this awesome. He's polite, and has experience with this. He should, considering he was a familiar in his timeline. Then my mind went back to that question. "Who was his previous master?" I thought to myself. "Strong, short, short-tempered, bad at magic..." I went over those facts in my head, trying to apply them to everyone I knew. No such luck. "Stupid familiar, he's just toying with me. How can I name a person I've never met?" Then something in my mind clicked. "No. Nonononononono, that can't be who his master was, She became a great mage..." The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. That's the only person it could be. This thought in my head, a blush appeared on my face and I went to sleep.


	2. Duel

Author Notes:

First things first, the inner monologue. Originally it was just a name I came up with for Saito's thoughts, but as the story went on I kept unconsciously giving it more personality, so I decided to make it it's own character. I went back and rewrote the earlier scenes to give a reasoning behind it, and that's what you read last chapter.

Also, yes I know that the fact that Louise was Saito's master isn't a spoiler in any sense of the word, that's why I didn't bother hiding it. It is a spoiler to this Louise though, so I decided to play off of that.

Finally, the duel with Guiche. I'm rather proud of how it turned out. I hope that if you're reading it you enjoy it too, because its the first of two action scenes. I wrote the duel, then came to the conclusion that writing actions scene is really hard so I tried to avoid writing any other fight scenes like it. What's the other fight scene that I actually put some effort into? It should be pretty obvious. As always, let me know what you like, and what you hate.

2: Duel

I woke up a little earlier than normal that morning. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my list. I did this to confirm that last night wasn't a dream and to see if anything were to happen today. One of the events I wrote on it should be happening today, provided that nothing happened to alter the time stream to much. I went over to Louise's bed with the intent of waking her up to get ready.

I looked at the bed and saw that Louise was completely covered by her blanket. All I could see was a human shaped lump under the blanket.

"I'm awake," came Louise's tired voice from under the covers. "I couldn't sleep."

"In my experience, info bombs like last night tend to do that to people. But that's not what you were thinking about was it? Not entirely anyway."

She sat up and nodded her head in that cute way she does when she is still not entirely awake, but still too tired to think as well as when she is completely awake.

"Well, let's hear it. Do you know who my previous master? You get one guess."

Louise looked down like she was still trying to see whether or not to say it. She opened and closed her mouth several times, debating with herself on whether or not to say what she was thinking. She closed her hands into fists and a blush was visible on her face. _It appears she figured it out,_ my inner monologue tells me.

"Your previous master, the one who you love and were loved by, that you swore to protect... It..." She paused right there as if she wasn't quite ready to believe it.

"It... was me. Wasn't it?" Her blush had spread from her cheeks to the rest of her face and even down her neck.

I smiled and nodded. "Yes. In my timeline, I was also your familiar. And yes. I did love her, or should I say you, very much. Strange isn't it? Even in alternate timelines I'm still your familiar." I said while almost chuckling at this fact.

I could swear she looked like she was going to faint from embarrassment. Her face was so red it looked like a tomato dipped in ketchup and red paint.

"Then she, I, loved you?"

I nodded. I swear even her hair was starting to blush a deep red by this point. Then she gasped as if a thought had just occurred to her, and her face paled. I admit, it was pretty amusing seeing her face go from pure red to completely white in an instant.

"Then, all those injuries and kicks, th-those were me also?"

I cringed at the memories. "You were always a little... enthusiastic in your discipline. Anyway, Good job. You figured it out, as I knew you would. This saves me a lot of hassle later down the line with all sorts of misunderstandings that happen. Wait, no. Those type of things are probably still going to happen." I shook my head and continued. "Anyway, I promised, you guessed correctly, so I will answer you questions as best I can."

Louise, who had finally managed to regain her composure at what could easily be considered being confessed too, asked her first question.

"Okay, You said that I become a great mage. How? I have zero magical skill." She looked like she needed a hug. I resisted the urge considering there was no way she would accept such a gesture at this point. _Smart move, we don't want her going trigger happy again, right?_ I try to find a shut off switch for my inner monologue. I can already see him getting really annoying, really quickly. _Fine, I'll keep quiet. I'll still be here just to let you know._

I chose my words carefully. "Well, first off, let me say one thing." She nodded showing that she was listening intently. "I know exactly what your problem is."

At that, she perked up and immediately grabbed my shoulders and started shaking me.

"What? What is it! How can I fix my magic!"

"S-s-stop shaking m-m-me!" She stopped and blushed.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. As I was saying, I know what your problem is. However, there is nothing I can do to help you- Wait don't cry!" That last part was because she looked close to tears at having her one hope of becoming a respected mage having been dangled in front of her then ripped away from her reach.

_Congratulations, you made an underage girl cry. Have you no shame?_ 'I thought you said you were going to shut up inner monologue.' _I'm your conscious, its my job to mock you when you do stupid things. _Perfect, now I had a voice in my head that was going to mock me constantly. I never though I'd miss having a false motive.

"I-I'm not crying! A-a mage n-never cries in front of her f-familiar," Louise said unconvincingly.

"Sorry for leading you on like that but I wasn't finished yet. I said there was nothing I could do _yet_. Don't worry. It will be about a month or two before the necessary tools are assembled."

Louise looked at me with her eyes looking like they were holding back a flood. "Okay, then can you at least tell me what the problem is?"

I nodded "That I can do. Your problem is, you're using the wrong element."

"But I've tried all of them! Earth, wind, water, and fire-"

"Void." I interrupt.

"What? That's impossible! Void was lost long ago! Few people even acknowledge that its real!"

I chuckle to myself and notice that I've been doing that a lot lately. I wonder why?

"That's why I said the necessary materials aren't here yet. To allow you to unlock the void we need three things." I tell her. "We need a special type of ring. We also need the right book to help you get your spells. Third, and most importantly, we need you to be ready." I try to keep it as unspecific as I can, to avoid her actively seeking out the needed things or jumping in joy like a little school girl when she got one of the items.

As I said the third one Louise gave me a confused look.

"What do you mean ready?"

"The book only gives you your Void spells when you are ready to use them. If you are not ready to use the spell, You won't know the spell. Thus, Your magic will remain this way for another few months," I tell her bluntly. She looks slightly dejected but quickly regains her spirit.

"That's okay. I'm fine knowing I won't be a zero forever."

"No, you won't. Also, Keep it a secret, for obvious reasons. If people knew that I'm from the future, or that you are one of the most powerful mages alive, who knows what would happen."

She nods. "I understand. For now, I have to go to class. This time is currently taken for familiars to go into the courtyard and get to know each other. I just have one last question."

"Which is?"

"When you first introduced yourself, you had a noble's name. Why is that?"

"I've done some things of notable worth. Considering those things haven't happened yet, I'm really just Saito Hiraga at the moment." I tell her.

"What did you do? How could a commoner become a noble?"

I smile. "That would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?"

She pouts a little, but seems to accept that I'm not telling her anything else. "Fine, now go and meet the other familiars. I'm heading to class."

I nod. I decide to go to the courtyard and meet with some of my old friends.

*Scene Break*

It's now time for the noon recess. It was nice to meet Slyphid and Belldandy again, even if they didn't remember me. Anyway, now was the time event number one happens.

I walk around the courtyard until I see a boy with a mop of blonde hair talking to another group of students. I bide my time until I see a purple bottle fall from his pocket and I make my move.

"Oi! Guiche! You dropped something!"

He ignores me, as I expect. I decide to take a more aggressive approach.

"Hey! Are you listening to me? I said you dropped something!" I pick up the bottle and show it to him.

"You are-" he begins

"Louise's familiar." I finish for him.

"Ah yes, The commoner she summoned. Anyway, I don't know what you're talking about. I had nothing in my pockets."

"Then why did I see this bottle fall from there?" I counter.

"Hey, isn't that some of the perfume Montmorency uses?" asks one of the people there.

"So you are dating Montmorency!" Says another. I smile to myself, all according to plan.

"But weren't you talking to that first year, Katie, last night?" Asks the third.

Guiche says exactly what I wanted him to say. "Ah, but a rose blooms for the joy of many, not for the satisfaction of one!"

"Do you want to say that to her face? After all, she's over there. And she seems rather upset."

"Guiche!" says the voice belonging to Montmorency.

"Ah! Montmorency!" Guiche tries desperately to save face. "I-I don't know what they're saying! After all I would never-"

"Hold that thought Guiche, Why don't we just ask Katie? After all, she's coming this way." I point behind him and he whirls around with the speed of a hurricane.

"Guiche!" Says Katie "I have the soufflé you asked about last night." Then she notices Montmorency looking rather upset.

"Guiche," You can almost see the hellish aura coming off of Montmorency, "why were you talking with this girl last night?"

"Ah, Katie, to let you know, Some of Montmorency's perfume fell out of Guiche's pocket." I add to help Katie get up to speed on the situation.

Katie gasps and starts giving off and aura almost as scary as Montmorency's.

Long story short, Guiche went through almost as much pain as I did on a daily basis back in the day. After Guiche recovered consciousness, He immediately gave me a death glare. He then pointed his rose/wand at me.

"You! Commoner! I can never forgive someone who makes two girls cry like that!"

"Really? Because it looks to me like they were upset that you were cheating on them. Also, it looks more like they were mercilessly beating the crap out of you, not crying. In all honesty, I kind of feel like crying when I look at what they did to you." I couldn't resist. Guiche got really mad after that, but I must give him credit, he calmed down almost as quickly.

"Because you are a commoner and don't know the proper way of addressing nobles such as me-"

I cut him off "Actually, I know just how to talk to nobles. I just don't think you're deserving of my respect."

His eyes narrowed at me.

"A duel. I challenge you to a duel at Vestri Court!"

"Accepted. When? Now's good for me." I say while resisting an urge to smile.

"Now will do. You will not run away even though you know you can't win?" He asks while raising an eyebrow.

"Don't make assumptions you have to proof of, Guiche. I'll be at the court in a few minutes. I look forward to it." I give in and smile while I say this. He notices and walks off in a huff. _Not bad. Much better than last time. I'm going to enjoy watching you kick his ass again._ For once, I'm glad to have an inner monologue. Its always nice to have someone who's always on your side at all times.

'Oh!' I think to myself. 'I forgot, Louise should be showing up right about...'

"What were you thinking!" I hear someone shout.

_Right on cue_, my inner monologue says.

Louise storms up to me her face red with what is most likely anger.

I shrugged. "He was angering me and he cheated on two girls. Frankly, I think he needs to be brought down a few pegs on the arrogance scale."

Louise just looks at with disbelief on her face. "There's no way you can win! He's a noble and you're a commoner!" She almost looks worried about me.

"Don't worry. I have a plan. If it succeeds, I make it out with no injuries and win the duel in a curb-stomp victory."

"And if it fails?" Louise asks, her voice filled with worry.

"I get horribly injured, nearly killed, but make it out alive and still win. I think."

Louise looks at me, clearly horrified at my worst case scenario.

"Don't worry," I turn to one of the students, whose name escapes me, "Vestri Court is the way right?"

He nods and I begin walking when I'm hit by a flying tackle and hit the floor.

"No Mr. Saito! You can't! You'll be killed!" I don't remember Siesta being this emotional before the duel last time.

"While I thank you for your concern, there is no need to worry."

"B-but..." she then starts crying and runs off.

I shrug and head towards Vestri Court. _You just love making girls cry, don't you?_ 'Shut up inner monologue.'

*Scene Break*

"Ah, So you came." Remarks Guiche, clearly ready to try and beat me into a pulp to try and reclaim some honor.

"Yes I did." It was time to put my plan into action.

"Before we start Guiche, I have one simple request."

"Sorry, I will not go easy on you. I will give you all I got." He replies preemptively.

A grin appears on my face. "Don't worry, I want you to go all out."

He appears surprised. "What?"

"My request is simple. You, being a mage, are allowed to use your magic during this duel, correct?"

He nods, "But of course."

"So wouldn't it only be fair to give me a sword?"

His eyebrow rises up, and he appears very curious.

"I mean after all, I am only a commoner. I have no magical skills, so to make the fight at least somewhat fair, Shouldn't I have a sword to defend myself with?"

He ponders the idea before he nods in approval.

"In the interest of a fair fight, I see no problem with giving you a sword."

He whips his rose and a single petal flies off. The petal flies towards me and lands on the ground. Where the petal landed a flash of light erupts. After the light settles down, a large sword rests, implanted into the ground. A smile crosses my face as I recognize the sword. It's the same sword he offered me when we first fought. As I reach to grab it, Louise decides she doesn't want this to continue.

"Guiche! Stop this already!" Louise screams at.

"Sorry Louise, But this commoner has already accepted the duel. Therefore, it must continue," replies Guiche.

"So? Duels are forbidden!" Cries Louise.

"Duels between nobles are forbidden. Duels between commoners and nobles are fair game," corrects Guiche.

"You wouldn't happen to have feelings for him would you?" Asks Guiche.

Louise blushes even more, "W-what? H-how could I love him? He's-" I cut her off

"Um... Louise, no one ever said love." I say with a blush forming on my own face. _I think she likes you Saito. _'Shut up, its too early for that. She probably just doesn't want to see her familiar fight what she thinks is an impossible battle.' _If you say so. She looks rather upset though._

Louise realizes what she said and shuts up.

"Anyway," I begin, eager to change the subject, "Shall we start?"

I grab the sword, and the runes on my left hand light up in a way I know all too well.

"Very well," says Guiche, "Let the battle begin."

The crowd of student's who have formed around us begin cheering and getting rowdy due to the supposed beat down of the commoner that they all believe is coming.

He waves his rose and a single petal fall down. When It lands, a bronze Valkyrie appears in a flash of light. My right arm hurts from where this Valkyrie broke my arm when we first fought. Just as I begin reminiscing about the old times, the Valkyrie charges. I notice just in time and as the Valkyrie throws a punch towards my stomach, I sidestep, turn so I'm behind the Valkyrie, and slash horizontally, slicing the golem in half. The crowd falls silent almost in an instant.

"You might want to try again. Try sending all the Valkyries you have at me. Maybe even at the same time." I say tauntingly.

Guiche's face changes from surprise to pure rage. He swings his rose and six petal fall off. They all land in a line and six Valkyries emerge. I notice that two wield axes, three wield maces and one has a large shield. An instant after they are all summoned, they all charge at once. One tries to swing an axe at me. I jump back, dodging the blade, then I cut off it's arm and slash diagonally, reducing it to pieces. I see a mace approaching me so I jump upwards over the mace and watch as it collides into the helmet of the shield Valkyrie which promptly collapses into a pile of scrap. When I land, I rush the mace Valkyrie and it sees me running towards it and tries to punch me. I hit the ground and slide between its legs and pop up behind it. Before it can react, I stab it in the back and it collapses.

One of the mace Valkyries try to do an overhead slice at me but I parry the attack and slice, one more dead. The two left, one with and axe and one with a mace, both charge me at the same time, I simply run up to them and perform a spinning slash taking out both at once. I look over and see Guiche terrified. I run over and give him a swift punch in the gut.

"Anything else up your sleeve or are you about done?" I ask him.

Guiche falls to his knees and I swear it looks like he wet himself.

"I-I yield."

I nod and give my best try at an evil grin. "Even so, aren't these duels to the death? How could I simply let you go like that?" I say while raising my sword.

I swing the sword down a few inches and Guiche screams like a little girl. I can't take it anymore and burst out laughing. I stick the sword in the ground and use it as support to keep me from falling over with laughter. The people in attendance stare at the scene in front of them.

"Did you really think I was going to kill you?" I ask laughing, "I'm not evil or anything! Though I suppose my sense of humor is a little dark compared to most."

"S-so, I can leave?" Guiche asks me utterly terrified.

I nod, "Of course. I don't want to kill you!" I offer him my hand. He takes it and I pull him up.

I smile and turn to Louise. "Should we leave know?"

She stares at me dumbfounded and nods.

_Nice job with the almost death threat. That should make sure no one messes with you for a while. _'Yeah, but maybe I overdid it.' I shake my head. My inner monologue was right, this should help people see me as a credible person, not just a commoner.

*Scene Break*

When back in the safety of her room, Louise turns to me.

"What was that? How could you defeat seven golems so easily?" She asks.

"There was one thing I might have forgotten to mention," I hold up my left hand "See these runes?"

"What about them? They show that you're my familiar."

"Correct," I say, "however these runes are special, These are the runes of Gandalfar. Actually, Maybe I shouldn't tell you that yet."

"Why not?" Louise asks. Then she looked at me with her eyes wide and begging for more information. I couldn't handle the cuteness and my will was shattered. I silently pray she doesn't figure out how to use that to her advantage.

_You always were weak to Louise's advances. _'Seriously? Do you have to mock me for breaking down at seeing Louise like this?' _Yes, yes I do._

"Fine, I'll tell you. Gandalfar was the left hand of God, he was the one who protected Brimir when he was casting his spells."

"What? You're the familiar of Founder Brimir?" I can tell that I just about broke her brain with the statement.

"Not exactly, I have the same capabilities as the previous Gandalfar, but I am not the same person. These runes give me the power to use any weapon I touch and know how to use it. I also become much faster and more resilient."

I look at her and see that she seems astonished that I have such a powerful ability.

"So your plan was to trick Guiche into giving you a sword so you could defeat him?"

I nod. "That is correct. I knew he was someone who liked to play to the crowd, so I used that to trick him into making it a 'fair' fight. If it didn't work and he simply attacked me, I most certainly would have been beaten within an inch of my life, trust me I speak from experience."

She seems horrified at the fact that I could have almost died in that fight. Maybe she's more worried about me than I thought. I dismiss this claim almost as immediately as I think of it.

"Don't worry, as long as I hold a weapon, I'm able to handle most situations."

She lets out a yawn.

"Don't worry Louis, Just go to sleep. I'm going to go take a walk around the castle to calm myself. You just go to sleep."

She opens her mouth like she wants to protest, but she instead nods and start to get ready for sleep. I open the door, walk out and shut the door behind me. I made my first destination the library. I had to talk to someone and clear some things up.

*Louise POV*

I couldn't believe it. How could my familiar be so powerful? The be able to effortlessly take down seven bronze golems with no trouble, what else could he do? I just didn't know how I, having no magical talent, could have summoned someone as powerful as he is. "He did say I was a void mage." I shake my head. "No, that's impossible. Void has been lost for hundreds of years." In my effort to forget about the subject, my mind wanders back to when Saito and Guiche fought. "Why didn't I want them to fight? He said he had a plan, so I shouldn't have been worried. Unless... NONONO, I don't care what he says, or where he gets his knowledge, I do not love him!" I pull the covers over my head and try to fall asleep and forget about the day so I can move on. "He did look pretty cool when he took out those golems."


	3. Advances

3: Advances

I arrived at the library and noticed that there was a light coming from the teachers section. As I thought, Colbert was still researching. I went up to where he was reading books and stopped when I heard him talking to himself.

_Here to make sure Colbert isn't up late at night researching something he'll never find? _'Yep, the way I see it, if we don't let him know why these runes are different, he'll keep searching and never find out.' _If you say so._

"No. The runes are different. Maybe chapter 11 has some examples?" Colbert muttered to himself.

"Looking for something about these?" I asked while stepping out from behind the book shelf with my left hand up.

"Ah!" He almost fell out of his chair from surprise. "H-how did you know I'd be here researching that?"

"Just a feeling. Anyway, I doubt you'd find anything." I tell him honestly.

"Wh-What?" He asked astonished.

"Yeah. These runes are a little different." I explain. "I believe the closest you'll find is under that book about the founder's familiars."

He gives me a curious look and grabs the appropriate book and starts leafing through it.

"The closest I find is Gandalfar, but the runes-"

"I know," I cut in "That's because the false motive was erased."

"False motive?" He asks. He doesn't know? Odd.

"When a contract is formed, a false motive is implanted in the familiar's mind to stay with their master. When my contract was formed, my runes looked like that, but after my false motive was erased the runes were changed, reflecting my state of mind."

He nods his head up and down. "I see, but when you were summoned you runes looked nothing like this. And how can your 'False Motive' be erased?" He asks. I forgot how many questions he asks when he's interested in something.

"When I was a familiar here they were like this, but back in my time, they were those ruins. As for your other question, that is something I am not at liberty to discuss. Rest assured, I will be able to tell you, later."

He looked at me quizzically, "What do you mean 'your time?'"

I give him a small smile. "Who's to say I'm from this time? For a more straightforward answer, I'm from a few years in the future. To me, it was several years ago when Louise summoned me. OH! And just to let you know, I'm also from another world." I explain nonchalantly.

Colbert stares at me, mouth agape. He appears to have just frozen up like he just became a PC with a virus and was experiencing his own personal blue screen of death. a few minute later he recovers enough to start forming thoughts and words once again.

"Yo-You're-"

"Yes. Hard to believe. But it's the truth. You might wan't to go back to your room and go take a nap to calm down."

He nods, puts the books away and walks away. _Okay, I don't care what you think, you definitely overdid that one. _I wince, 'Yeah, I probably could have broken it to him slowly.' _Well, let's head back to Louise's room. She might start worrying if you're away for too long. _'At this point in time? I doubt it.' I still decide to go to Louise's room anyway. My work here is done.

*Scene Break*

A sense of dread crosses over me when I enter the hallway to Louise's room. Then a shiver goes down my spine and I feel like I'm being watched. I turn around and see a salamander with a fire tail looking straight at me, Then I remember. An event that happens during the night after the battle with Guiche.

_Actually, didn't it happen about a week after that? _'Um... I think your right. Does it really matter?' _I guess not._

The salamander jumps me and grabs onto my collar. I give a yell and put up a bit of a fight as it pulls me into a room.

Once inside the room, the salamander lets go of me. I start to get up and that's when I notice it. The person I was fearing most of all. In front of me is Louise's rival, Kirche, dressed in nothing but some skimpy nightwear. The memories of the first time this happen flood back to me. This was the first night Louise called me a dog and beat me with a whip. It was one day I could have gone on without. And here I was, experiencing it again.

"Welcome to my room." Kirche begins.

"Um, It's kind of dark in here."

She snaps her fingers and the lights come up.

"Sit down," She says while gesturing to the bed.

"I'd rather not." I reply.

"I get it." She says.

"Really? Because I don't." I respond.

"You think I'm a lowly, despicable women, who just wants to use you for a night of pleasure then toss you aside."

_Yes, _my inner monologue says, forgetting that only I can hear him, _Yes I do. No, I don't think that. I know that._

"But believe me," says Kirche, "I want so much more from you. My runic name is the Ardent, I'm like torch-"

"Easy to set on fire?"

She pouts a little then reverts to her previous attitude, "No, I'm easy to turn on."

This set off some alarms in my head. My head was a jumble of thoughts, but one stood out above the others. _Get me the **** out of here! _'Right, because I wasn't already thinking to do that. Thanks inner monologue.'

Then Kirche jumped me and pushed me onto the ground.

"Oh god, help!" I yell.

"Shhh," She whispers, then she puts her lips on top of mine. I begin to pray for something to save me. Thankfully it comes. Just then the door bursts open and Louise comes in. The sudden opening of the door startles Kirche and gives me time to breathe.

"Louise! Thank God! She kidnapped me and now she wants to-"

I was cut off by Kirche putting her lips on mine again, pretending not to notice Louise. Then Louise launches one of her flying kicks I know all to well right at Kirche, who dodges. And uses me as a shield. Flying kicks can't exactly be stopped midway through. In all honesty, I didn't need to feel another kick to the crotch courtesy of Louise.

"Eh! Sorry Saito!" Louise franticly apologizes.

I try to form words but the pain keeps me from doing so. Actually, I think this is the first time she called me by name. Interesting. I eventually regain my cognitive functions and manage to croak out. "That's fine, get me out of here."

She grabs my arm and drags me back towards her room before stopping and turning towards Kirche.

"Zerbst, Don't ever think of trying to take Saito again. He's my familiar. Not yours." Louise then drags me back to her room and closes and locks the door. Never before have I been so thankful for one of Louise's kicks.

After we are back in the safety of Louise's room, and I had stopped being curled in a fetal position of pain, Louise started the conversation.

"Saito," I shuddered, that was the tone she took before she began beating me with her whip of destruction. Actually, wasn't this the tone of voice she took the first time this happened? "Why were you in that stupid Zerbst's room?"

I took a breath and replied, "I was coming back from my walk, which I told you I was going on, and when I was here in the hallway, Her familiar ambushed me and brought me to her room."

"Why didn't you stop the familiar? You are Gandalfar after all," she asked with a hint of doubt in her voice. I wonder if she's doubting my Gandalfar status, or my excuse.

"You were there when I fought Guiche, when I grabbed the sword, the runes lit up. I only have the Gandalfar speed and reflexes when I'm holding a weapon. Without it, I'm nothing more than a regular human."

She eyes me, before accepting it. "Then why didn't you take another route? Didn't you know this would happen?"

I flinched. I really didn't want to have this conversation. "Well..." I began sheepishly, "Yes I was aware, but the circumstances were different the first time."

Louise raised an eyebrow. "Circumstances? Please elaborate."

Crap. _Do we really have to have this conversation?_

"Well, the first time it happened, I was asleep outside your room-"

"Why were you asleep outside the room? Were you not allowed inside?"

Crap. _Quick, think of an excuse to get out of this talk!_

"Well, Earlier in the day I was attending the class with you and fell asleep during the class. I had a bit of wine beforehand and... had this one dream during the class. Apparently I also talk in my sleep."

_You idiot! Don't tell her what the dream was! _'Lying isn't going to get me anywhere, is it?' _... Damn. Fine, continue, but only if she asks._

Louise eyed me and I swear I could see a blush on her face.

"Dream? Elaborate."

'Crap.' _Crap_.

"Well, In my dream..." I began blushing furiously. "I was sleeping in my little pile of hay like usual, and in my dream you decided to join me in the haystack during the night and then you started-"

"What!" I wasn't imagining it, Louise was certainly blushing. "And you had this dream during class of all places!"

"Yes. You were not pleased. I had to sleep outside in the hallway. That's when that salamander kidnapped me. Since that didn't happen this time, I didn't register that the event was going to take place anyway."

"W-well I guess that's a good enough reason." Louise was still a little shaken about that dream I admitted to.

"Louise, If you don't mind, could we go out tomorrow and buy a sword? It would help if I had my own sword to defend myself with."

Louise mulled over the idea, then nodded her head. "That sounds like a good idea. It would be a benefit if you could defend yourself. It's decided. Since tomorrow is the day of v-void," Apparently she still hadn't forgotten about that little discussion we had about her magic earlier, "I will take you into town and buy a sword."

"Thank you Louise. Also, I don't think I'll be taking any more late night walks. I'd hate for Kirche to kidnap me again." I said.

Louise nodded and walked into her bed, pulled up the covers and went to sleep. I crawled into my pile of hay. Tomorrow, I'd be meeting another friend.

*Scene Break*

"Geez, I forgot how big this town is." I say more to myself than anyone else.

"Don't whine. Keep up."

The ride to town hadn't been the best trip ever. I doubt I'll ever get used to these long horseback trips. Being somewhat forced to just muscle through it, I ignored the pain and followed Louise.

"Hey Louise, is the store we're going to the only sword shop in the town?" I asked.

"It's not the only shop that sells swords, but it is the only one that only sells weapons. Other stores only sell swords because they have them on hand."

I felt a little relieved. This meant that he would be there.

"Here we are!" Louise exclaimed as she turned a corner.

"Ah. Yes it does seem familiar."

"Do you have a specific sword in mind? Is that why you asked if this was the only store that sold swords?"

"Yes and no. While that is part of the reason, I'm looking for an old friend." I told her.

"An old friend? Is he going to be at the shop?" Louise looked rather confused. I don't blame her.

"Yes. He will be. I can feel it." With that I walked into the store, Louise following behind me.

"Hello, are you the patron of the fine establishment?" I ask the men behind the counter.

"Yes, that I am." I recognize him, he is the one who ran the store where I got Derflinger.

"I heard from a friend of mine that you have a talking sword for sale. Would that happen to be the case?"

"What? A talking sword?" Asks Louise dumbfounded.

The salesman grunts and points towards a barrel near the back of the shop. "He's in there. Don't ask about price, just take him. He drives off too much business."

I rush towards the barrel and paw through until I find the one I was looking for. I see a familiar handle and sheath, and pull him out of the barrel.

"Huh, about time someone bought me. I tell ya, people just don't understand a sword when they see one! Ugh, why'd the only person to realize my magnificence have to be some half wit looking boy?" Said a voice.

_I forgot how awesome this guy was! Buy him! Buy him now!_ 'You know, I thought, that being my inner monologue, you'd have a better understanding of what goes on in my head. _I'm just your conscious, I don't have access to the higher thought processes._

"T-The sword talked!" Louise sounded a little frightened. I thought it was a little weird, shouldn't she be used to this type of thing by now?

"Are you Derflinger?" I ask the sword.

"Ah, so you recognize me, eh? Yes, I am the legendary sword Derflinger! Wait, how do you know me? You wouldn't happen to be a user would you?" Derf asks me.

"I'm still not sure what it means but, yes. I pretty sure I am."

"Well than, glad to meet you partner! What might your name be?"

"I'm Saito, weird name I know." I said knowing his response in advance.

"I'll say."

*Scene Break*

On the way back to the academy, I explained to Derf just about everything. He took the fact that not only was I from another world, but the future, pretty well. Derflinger always gave off a vibe of just accepting what happened around him so I suppose it wasn't that big of a surprise. When you're a legendary 6000 year old sentient sword, I imagine it becomes quite hard to surprise you. He did seem to think it rather interested though, and remained silent for most of the trip, pondering the fact that his new partner was from the future.

"So you're sure about that rusty old sword? We could have gotten a much better one." said Louise.

"Oi! I'm a legendary sword! They don't get much better than me!" Derflinger replied.

"Trust me Louise," I said, throwing my two cents in, "He's one of, if not the best, sword for our needs."

"If you say so. I just don't see how he can do anything another, shinier sword can't."

"He can't yet. Derflinger, do you remember anything about the past 6000 years? Any special abilities?" I ask the sword.

Derflinger remains silent for a bit, trying to remember. "Sorry partner. 6000 years is a long time. I'm having trouble remembering much."

"Well does the phrase, 'I'm the legendary familiar, Gandalfar,' mean anything to you?"

Derf shuts himself in his scabbard while he thinks it over. He pops back out a few minutes later.

"The name's familiar. It's on the tip of my tongue." It looks like he's almost hurting himself trying to remember.

"Like you said, 6000 years is a long time. It'll come to you when it needs to."

"I hope you're right Saito," said Louise, "I don't want to be seen with a useless piece of rust for my familiar's sword.

"Good thing he's not useless then, isn't that right?" I reply.

Louise looks at me and shrugs. "You know more than I do."

*Scene Break*

After we arrived at the academy, we went straight for Louise's room as quickly as possible. This was at my insistence. If we hurried we might avoid-

"Darling!"

Crap.

We turned to where the voice came from and we saw the demon herself. Kirche.

"Um... Hello there. What do you want?" I asked, trying not to sound nervous at the thought of her jumping me again.

"Nothing much. I just saw that Louise got you a nice rusted stick to swing around." She replied, taunting me. Derflinger was about to come out and say something but I pushed him into his scabbard to avoid any unnecessary insult fights.

"Actually, he's a sword," I respond trying to sound as calm as possible. "Also, Louise didn't buy it, the shop keeper gave it to us for free." I held up a hand to stop Kirche from making some type of snide comment. "Finally, I wanted this sword. There were other choices, but I wanted this one."

Kirche looks at me a little dumbfounded. She wasn't expecting me to rush her like that. "Well than I guess you don't want, this." She held out a shiny golden sword. Its the same golden sword I wanted the first time I went sword shopping with Louise. It's also the same sword that broke like a twig in my first real fight in this world. I'm about to say no, but Louise beats me to it. With a reply surpassing all expectations.

"Yes! Of course we'll take the sword!" She says with what I detect to by false enthusiasm.

"What?" comes everyone's response.

Louise takes the sword, grabs me, than pulls me into her room and she locks the door.

"Why did you want that sword?" I ask Louise. "Isn't Kirche, like, your arch enemy? Or something like that?"

Louise nods. "Yes, but, look at this sword. It's way-"

"Worse than Derf." I cut in. I decide I need to work on my manners later. I've been cutting people off too much lately.

"Eh? But it's-"

"Going to be as useful as a piece of dust in the first real fight we get in." Manners aren't high on my list of priorities.

Louise stared at me like I was crazy. I give her my own stare and try to convey the message, "Do not test me. I'm from the future."

"On the bright side, we could probably sell it. Get some money off it. A little spare change never hurts right?" I say.

She nods. "If it is as useless as you say, then I guess we probably should sell it."

I smile. "Good job. You're learning to trust me. Anyway, it's late. You better get ready for bed.

She nods and goes to her closet and gets her night clothes she starts changing, but then she remembers I'm in the same room. She starts blushing.

"A-aren't you the least bit embarrassed by this?" SHE asks ME. I repeat, SHE, Louise, the one who I almost had to convince to have some shame, was asking ME to have shame. I almost chuckle at the irony. _She's right, shouldn't you be embarrassed? You were last time. _Instead of answering him, I answer Louise's question.

I give yet another shrug. "Why should I? I am only a familiar. You might as well be changing in front of a dog, or a tree." I reply. _Ah, clever. Though in a way, you are completely correct._

She nods, clearly still embarrassed, but she changes anyway.

"Think of it this way," I offer, "Its not like it's nothing I haven't seen. After all, last time I was the one who had to dress you at first. That sucked. Not to mention that one time at the fountain-" I cover my mouth with my hand. No one here, especially not this Louise, needs to know about that. _Wow. You're really going to bring that up? _'I didn't mean to! It just slipped out!'

Louise, already changed into her night clothes, looks at me and raises an eyebrow. "Fountain? What fountain?"

I never should have mentioned it. "Nothing important. Nothing you would like. Forget I mentioned it, I know I'm trying to."

She pouts a little at me hanged some juicy information over her head and then removing it when she goes for it, but too bad. I am not mentioning that incident to her, no matter what she does. Trying my best to forget the awkwardness of my mention of that incident, I fall asleep.

*Louise POV*

I wasn't sure whether I should be embarrassed or angry. On one hand, I guess he's already seen me in every state of undress as possible. Why am I so embarrassed? Like he said, he's a familiar, I might as well be changing in front of a tree, or a rock. Still, when he just shrugged off me changing like that, I was a little upset. I kind of felt like my charm was being denied. I didn't know what to do with these conflicting feelings. Something else was bothering me though, "What did he mean by the fountain? Why wouldn't he want to forget about it?" I figure that thinking about it will get me nowhere and he won't talk about it, so I go to sleep. I had a dream where I saw flashes of what looked like Saito doing various things, various fights, but they moved too fast for me to make out any of them. I think about asking him, but decide against it. What do I ask about? How many fights he was in and to describe them in detail to me? I doubt that would work.


	4. Theft

Author Notes:

I'm sure we all remember the Fouquet incident. Its scenes like this, scenes where Saito uses his knowledge of future events, to plan out a strategy, that made me want to write this story. Its a simple scenario of "What would you do if you knew what was happening?"

Also I like how this chapter ended. I didn't even realize what I was writing until after I wrote it, and didn't even notice that its almost a reversal of what happened in the light novels.

By the way, I'm really starting to like writing Louise. Its much more fun to write her this way than the always angry, murderous Louise of the original novels. Review, leave feedback, and enjoy the story.

4: Theft

In all honesty I never fell asleep. I blame myself for bringing up THAT incident. Around the time I felt close to falling asleep, I heard a loud bang outside. _Already?_ My inner monologue asks. I reach into my pocket and pull out my time stream cheat sheet. 'Yup. She's here.' I go over to Louise's bed and pull the covers off.

"Hey, Louise, wanna play hero for a bit?" I ask, shaking her a bit to wake her up.

Her eyes flutter open and she looks at me in a daze.

"Huh?" She asks groggily.

"Golem. Thief. Here, now. Wanna help?" I ask.

That wakes her up. Her eyes shoot open and she rushes towards her closet and gets dressed. She grabs her wand and looks at me.

"What are you waiting for?" She asks, "Let's go catch a thief."

*Scene Break*

We head out towards the courtyard. That's when we see the golem with its cloaked rider on its shoulder. Its nice to see that Fouquet still has a thirst for the eccentric when it comes to magical weaponry.

"Okay, Louise, stay here and hurl explosions at it. I'll do what I can." I tell her.

She nods. I charge the golem, leaving her behind to explode the poor golem. The rider notices me for the first time. It tries to step on me but I jump backwards at the last moment and it narrowly misses me. The golem is a bit faster than I remember it being. I dismiss the thought as me underestimating the thing and charge in. It tries to grab me and I slice off its thumb. The rider stares at me and growls. The Golem tries to step on me again, but then Louise finishes her spell. The Golem finds itself missing a leg and it starts to topple before grabbing the main treasury tower as support. Fouquet notices Louise for the first time, though I'm not sure how you miss her. Bright pink hair doesn't exactly blend into the night after all. The golem spawns a rather large boulder in it's free hand and chucks it at Louise. She tries to blow it up, but misses and hit the treasury tower, which promptly fractures.

"Your aim hasn't changed at all," I mutter to myself before rushing towards Louise. She looks at the boulder and immediately freezes in place. I grab her and jump out of the way of the boulder seconds before impact.

After making sure Louise is safe I look towards the golem. It's repaired its leg and Fouquet has the staff of destruction in her possession. Perfect. Some things never change I suppose.

"You know Louise, in my experience, its usually best to run away from where a large boulder is about to hit," I tell, my relief of her being okay making me tease her a bit.

"S-sorry. I froze. My life flashed before my eyes and everything." She says sheepishly, "W-Where's the thief?"

I shake my head. "She's gone. Took off after chucking that boulder at you."

"What!" Louise screams at me.

Before I get a chance to explain, the school faculty show up._ Perfect timing. If only all responsible citizens were as timely as this academy's staff is_.

"The thief's gone," I tell them. "Judging by the box they ran off with, I'd say the target was the Staff of Destruction."

Mr. Colbert speaks up "Thief? Here?" He asks dumbfounded.

I nod. "Yep."

"Did you get a good look at the thief? How did he break the wall? It takes at least a square mage to even dent these walls!" Colbert exclaims.

"Mr. Colbert," Says Old Mr. Osmand "Don't you think this should wait until morning? It's the middle of the night after all."

Mr. Colbert sighs. "All right Headmaster. We'll wait until the morning."

Osmand turns to me and Louise. "As you just heard, we'll discuss this later. Until then, go back to your room and get some rest."

Louise and I both nod before heading back to our room.

*Scene Break*

When we get back to her room, Louise sits and the bed and gives me one of those death glares she's always been so good at.

"Saito. Answers. Now." She says in a rather angry tone. I guess she's upset we let the thief get away. _You best answer honestly, she doesn't look to be in the mood to mess around._

"Well, first of all, that was Fouquet or the crumbling earth." I say trying to keep my cool, knowing what's coming next.

"Eh? THE Fouquet? What does he want at the academy?" Louise asks me surprised.

"Considering what I told the faculty, I thought it was obvious. Fouquet wanted the Staff of Destruction. You know, the legendary artifact of unrivaled power and devastation that was being housed at a school for children?" I reply.

"Alright. Now who is he exactly?" She says, asking one of the question I really don't want to answer.

I sigh, "I can't tell you the identity of people you don't know like Fouquet. That creates distrust which could clue them in onto our knowledge and then they try something different."

Louise tilts her head to the side, "I don't get it."

"Well let's say, for example, that Guiche is secretly an elvish spy sent forth to steal the panties of all the underage girls he can," I suppress laughter at how plausible the idea actually sounds, "If I were to tell you that, you would stop trusting him, distance yourself from him, and he would suspect you of knowing his identity, making you his next target to silence. Or steal panties from."

Louise nods while blushing a little at the thought of Guiche stealing her underwear. "I guess that makes se- Wait!" I admit, I was a little surprised by the sudden change of tone.

"Does that mean that Fouquet is really a spy in the academy?"

I blink. Then I blink again. I wasn't expecting this question.

"Um... I-I don't really know how to respond to that question." I say.

"Respond with the truth!" Louise says, putting her index finger dangerously close to my face in a pose that would make Phoenix Wright proud.

I push the finger away and sight again. "Fine. Yes. Fouquet can be considered a spy."

Louise gasps. "T-then who is it?" She grabs me by the shoulders. "Tell me!"

"I can't tell you that. Remember our little conversation from about thirty seconds ago?"

Louise lets go and hangs her head in shame. "Sorry, I just got carried away. Wait a minute, Since you know who to trust, what happens when you show distrust to people? Wouldn't that tip them off?"

I ponder this for a minute then shrug. "I guess we could pass it off as the instincts of a familiar. I'm sure someone will believe it."

Louise gives me a look that I swear says, "You really are an idiot if you think that will fool anyone."

But she resigns herself to the fact that it's all we got and sighs. "I guess it'll do. Not like we have a choice."

I smile at her. "Good choice. Though be sure to let me know if you come up with a better idea. You usually good at that. Anyway, Get some sleep. Tomorrow's a big day."

Louise looked at me wide eyed. "What? What happens tomorrow?"

I give a knowing smile and pat her on the head which causes her to blush.

"That would ruin the surprise wouldn't it?" I say teasingly.

Louise lets out a rather upset sigh but resigns herself to the fact that she probably won't get much more info out of me tonight.

"Relax, you'll know what to do. Good night."

Then I'm out for a few hours until dawn when the hunt will begin.

*Scene Break*

That morning, after waking Louise up, we went to the Osmand's office. There were also all the teachers present at the time to discuss the events of last night's theft. Confirmed facts were that the thief used a Golem, was very powerful, and was Fouquet (_Called it!_). Then Ms. Lounguevile came in and reported that her investigation revealed The whereabouts of Fouquet's hideaway. _Convenient, _said my inner monologue, _That after a few hours of investigation you could easily find the uncatchable thief._ His powers of deduction would be so much more astounding if it weren't for the fact that he was deducing the obvious. _At least I'm trying!_

"Well then," Said Old Osmand, "Now that we know where the thief is, all who wish to go after her, raise your wands now." No one raised so much as a finger.

"Really? No one wants to be known as the one who caught the dangerous, uncatchable thief Fouquet?"

Louise and I look at each other. An unspoken conversation happens between the two of us and she nods her head. Then she raises her wand.

"I, Louise Vallière, and my familiar, Saito Hiraga, will go after and capture Fouquet the Crumbling earth!"

Everyone looks at us in surprise, and I try not to beam with happiness at her including me in the volunteer. Last time it was just assumed that I would go being her familiar. It's always nice to be treated as a person every once in a while. Then, as expected, the unexpected happened. Kirche burst through the door dragging Tabitha by her cape.

"I will not lose to a Vallière! I will also go along and capture Fouquet!" Shouts Kirche.

I do my best to ignore her and look at Tabitha. "She forced you to come along didn't she?"

Tabitha nodded.

"Well since you're here anyway, would you like to help us?" I ask.

She nods once again.

Before anyone else gets a chance to argue I speak up and take control of the situation.

"Well it's settled. Myself, My master Louise, Kirche and Tabitha will track down Fouquet. Also, since she conducted the investigation that found Fouquet's whereabouts, it seems only natural that Ms. Loungueville go as well." I look at Old Osmand, "Doesn't it?"

Everyone, Louise included Tabitha excluded, Stares at me, surprised that a commoner could be that forceful when addressing nobility. If only they knew how forceful I could be when the need arises.

Old Osmand clears his throat and tries to regain control. "Ahem, well yes. That seems rather reasonable. Are there any objections?"

Luckily everyone is still in too much shock to say anything. Sometime's my abilities surprise even myself.

"No? Well then, prepare a carriage and send them off."

*Scene Break*

"Louise, I had no idea your familiar was so forceful." Said Loungueville on the carriage ride over.

"Honestly neither did I. Still, I can be much more forceful under the right circumstances." I respond. "Hopefully those circumstances don't arise this time around."

"Eh? This time around?" Says Kirche.

Crap. Luckily for me, Louise is quick on her feet. Or, thought process.

"Saito here has had to take care of a few thieves in the past. Some real nasty people, right, Saito?" She turns to me and smiles.

I'm caught off guard by the smile and my mind stutters for a bit before recovering.

"R-right." _Smooth Saito,_ says my inner monologue mockingly.

"Oh Darling! Why didn't you tell us earlier! You are such an amazing person!" Kirche says while grabbing onto my arm.

"Right, well there's one thing to remember with thieves and especially famous ones like Fouquet. They don't get their titles for no reason. They are crafty and cunning. They will probably have traps set within their traps. Figure out the first, and you trigger the second and get ensnared." I reply while trying to pry Kirche off of my arm.

"Kirche, remember just who's familiar you are trying to attach to your b-body," says Louise, looking like she's ready to let Kirche be the bait for both traps.

"She's right Kirche. I would very much appreciate it if you stopped trying to fuse my arm with your body." I reply.

"Hmph. Don't say things like that. You know you love it," she whispers in my ear, trying to sound seductive.

"This is going to be a long trip," observes Ms. Longueville. A statement I couldn't agree with more.

*Scene Break*

I'll spare you the details of the trip but it was rather murderous on my will power. Kirche is not someone whose radar you want to be on. However something good did come out of the trip, we came up with a plan. I would go check out the place where Fouquet was supposedly hiding and see if anyone was there. If it was empty, I let everyone know, we go in, grab the staff and leave. If we ran into Fouquet and her golem again, I would attack it and draw it's attention while Louise, Tabitha, and Kirche stay in the air on Slyphid, Tabitha's familiar, and pelt the golem with magic. I couldn't help but notice that the plan was identical to the one last time.

"We're here," declared Loungeville.

"About time," complained Kirche.

"All right, you guys hang back, I got this." I say while I head towards the house. A hand near Derf to give the impression that I didn't know what was going to happen and that I had no idea if anyone was inside or not. I look in the window and did a quick scan to confirm. I turn towards the others and let them know. Then we busted down the door, ran in and began ransacking the place for the staff. At least we would have if the staff's box wasn't the first thing we saw when we beat down the door.

"That was easy," said Louise.

"Louise, quick heads up, I know movies don't exist here but that is one of the lines you never, ever say. No matter what." I tell her, taking on a tone of caution,

"Sorry."

I turn to the others, "This is the staff of destruction, right?" I want to confirm to make sure this wasn't a wild goose chase.

Tabitha nods her head. That's enough confirmation for me.

Then Kirche made the situation even worse. "Anyone notice that it's quiet?"

_Please for the love of God don't finish that sentence_, begs my inner monologue.

Tabitha nods. "Too quiet."

Crap.

Then we hear a familiar sound outside. I recognize it as the golem and draw Derflinger.

"For the record, that was another line you're never supposed to say," then I charge out of the mansion towards the noise. Time to meet our old friend.

"Fouquet!" shouts everyone at the same time. Except Tabitha. She just kind of, raised her voice to slightly above the average indoor voice.

"All of you, get on Slyphid now!" I yell at the three mages.

"No!" I don't even have to turn to see who said that.

"Louise, it's a little dangerous. Remember last time?" I tell her.

"I will not back down! I can do this! I can prove to them that I'm not a zero!" she says defiantly.

If the circumstances were different, I would have smiled, seeing Louise talking about her noble pride again.

"Let me guess, Noble Pride?"

"That is exactly correct! As a noble, I should never back down!" She says, sticking her chest out to try and make herself seem more determined and courageous. It has the opposite effect.

I chuckle to myself. "Let me offer this as a reply," I wheel around and slap her across the cheek. "What does your noble pride mean if you're dead! Don't just throw away your life to prove something!" I get angry just remembering these conversations. _Damn, your going to have to have all these talks again aren't you? _'Thank you for your absolute sense of not caring.' _Hey, it's your problem, not mine. I'm just here to mock you when you do stupid things._

Louise looks at me, stunned. Then she falls to her knees and starts to cry. _Like now. Congratulations, you have succeeded in making her cry once again. I should call the police and report domestic abuse. _I didn't really have time to respond to him considering the Golem was about to step on me and Louise. I grabbed her and pulled us out of the way before the Golem brought it's foot down.

"Can't you even try to console me a little bit? Please?" Louise is practically begging.

"Sure, after this Golem is destroyed!" I respond. Then I remember what Louise did to help out last time.

"Louise, I know something you can do to help." I tell her. "Whether this battle ends in victory or defeat hinges on this moment."

She wipes her tears and looks at me, a sense of duty in her eyes and asks, "What do you need me to do?"

"Go to Slyphid, get the staff of destruction and bring it here, and pelt the golem with magic while I set up."

"Eh? What can you do with the staff?" She asks, clearly more confused than ever.

"Trust me."

She looks at me, nods, and waves down Slyphid.

I keep the Golem's attention by hitting it with some slashes to keep it focused on me.

"Partner," Derflinger speaks up "This isn't working. Do you really think the Staff of destruction will work?

"No, I don't think it will work, I know it will work."

"Saito!"

I look over and see Louise waving the box housing the Staff of destruction. I rush over to and grab the box.

"Great job Louise, now keep that rock busy while I get this running. It should take a minute at most."

Louise nods and start chanting to try and explode the golem. It reminds me that we need to work on her aim. She hits trees and rock near the golem, still doing a sizable amount of damage, but she never hit the golem itself. Finally, the staff is ready to fire.

"Stand back Louise, but don't stand directly behind it, there will be a back blast which can hurt." She nods and stands off to my left side. With the "Staff" sitting pretty on my right shoulder, I look down the sights and aim at the Golem, I pull the trigger and the rocket comes out and hits the golem square on. A huge explosion and a few seconds later, the golem is rubble. I have a few seconds to admire my handiwork before Kirche lands on top of me, and almost breaks my neck. Words cannot begin to describe how much that would suck.

"Darling! You did it! I knew you could, but still! You took out a golem in one shot!"

"Yeah," said Louise, "that staff sure is dangerous."

I look over and see Tabitha looking around.

"You noticed too, right?" I ask her.

She nods, while Louise and Kirche just look confused.

"Notice what?" they ask simultaneously.

"Should you tell them or should I?"

Tabitha points at me with her staff. Apparently I should tell them.

"Okay then. Louise, Kirche, look around. See anyone missing?"

They look around, and then their eyes get big when they realize what I'm talking about.

"Good you noticed. Where's Ms. Loungueville? A better question would be, where is Fouquet? After all SHE wasn't on the Golem this time."

Their eyes get even bigger when they realize what I'm implying.

"Congratulations Familiar, I didn't expect you to figure it out so quickly, or at all I may add," came a voice from behind us.

"It was quite obvious when you went missing during the battle. That and your near miraculous recovery of Fouquet's whereabouts in mere hours when none have been able to track her previously. After that your plan was easy to figure out. Take different students and mages with you to where you hid the staff, then try to get them to figure out how to use it since you didn't know how to." I say calmly. "Am I on the right track so far, Mathilda?" I decide to use her real name for a little extra spite.

When I turn around, the look of shock on her face is almost too much to bear.

"How did you?"

I shrug. "I had some deals with information brokers in the past." I look over and see Louise looking like she's trying not to giggle at my taunting of Fouquet.

"Still, thanks for the staff of destruction. In fact, I'm so thankful, I'll let you get a shot off on us. So you can wield it's power with your own hands." I say darkly and toss the "staff" to Fouquet. _I like this plan. I like it a lot. _Everyone's reaction is so priceless I can't help but laugh.

"W-what's so funny? You just gave me one of the most powerful artifacts in the world!" says Fouquet

"What were you thinking!" shouted everyone, even Tabitha which was a little shocking.

"I didn't want to make this too easy so I let her get the first shot. Won't do her much good though."

"Oh really? Let's see how good that mouth of yours serves you when you when you're dead!" exclaims Fouquet.

The three mages behind me lift up their wands, I lift up my hand.

"I said she gets first shot didn't I? Let's make this at least slightly fair for her. After all, there isn't a hint of danger on this situation. Even if we were in danger, by the time you cast a spell, she would have already been shot." I say to them. The begrudgingly lower their wands.

"Foolish familiar! You have sealed your doom!" was Fouquet this hammy back in my time? She lifts the "staff" like she saw me do and aims it at us. Louise, Tabitha and Kirche close their eyes and cling on to each other, kneeling on the ground, waiting for the end. I stay standing. _You know they're going to hate you after this, right? _'Maybe, but it'll help us get Fouquet.'

Fouquet pulls the trigger.

"Eh? But, I saw-"

Before she can finish, I grip Derflinger and rush towards her and hit her in the stomach with Derf's handle.

"I won't explain the specifics, they're probably beyond your understanding, but it only has one shot. No amount of magic will ever change that. Also, it's not a staff. It's a weapon from my world. There, we call it the M72 Rocket Launcher."

Fouquet falls to the ground and loses consciousness. I grab the rocket launch and turn towards the girls.

"We won." I say. Short and simple. They open their eyes, which nearly pop out of their skulls when they see the seen in front of them. They probably never expected me, a commoner, to actually be braver than they were. To be fair, if a fully loaded rocket launcher were pointed at me, I would have reacted the same way they did.

"Oh and uh, sorry for scaring you back there," I say. "It was just a part of a plan I had come up with. I definitely don't plan on letting any of you be put in danger."

Louise is the first to react. She runs up to me and hugs me, tears in her eyes. Then Kirche and Tabitha do the same thing, minus the tears. _Yeah, group hugs are the best reward for scaring them to death._ 'Can you please just shut up?'

"Let's grab Fouquet and head back to the academy. I'll explain what my plan was on the way there. Slyphid can carry all of us, right Tabitha?"

*Scene Break*

On the way back to the academy I explained how I gave Fouquet the rocket launcher to keep her rooted in one place.

"I see," Said Louise. "If we had all rushed her before you gave her the staff, she would have run off and we might not have caught her again."

"Exactly," I replied "To remedy that problem, I gave her the staff and led her to believe it would still fire. Being a single shot, it wouldn't and I counted on her being surprised enough to allow a follow-up strike."

Tabitha nodded her head. "Clever."

I looked at her and blinked once. I think that's the first time I ever got a compliment from Tabitha.

"Just as I expected, Darling is a mastermind!" Said Kirche, attaching herself to my arm again.

"Saito," said Louise, "I have to ask, where did you come up with a strategy like that? It couldn't have been a spur of the moment idea. You had to have planed it out, right?"

"Well, it worked in the past." I reply honestly.

While Louise immediately understands what I mean by that, a fact I am grateful for as it means less explanation about it later, Kirche and Tabitha don't quite understand.

"What do you mean?" asked Tabitha of all people.

"The thief isn't expecting you to just hand them the treasure right? They expect to fight you and ultimately kill you to pry the treasure from your hands. By just giving it to them, they are stunned long enough for your strike to be made." I say, using an explanation I pulled straight out of thin air.

Surprisingly, it works. They both nod and seem satisfied. Good, the less they suspect the better. Though I knew Tabitha would figure it out eventually. She's smart like that.

*Scene Break*

Ah, the Slepnier Ball. Or was it the Ball of Frigg? Oh well, it didn't really matter. I have so many memories from so many balls that it becomes hard to remember the names sometimes, though the memories always stay. It was such a nostalgic feeling, being at this ball. After we got back and explained the situation to Old Osmand, he gave Louise and Kirche the title of chevalier and Tabitha, already being a chevalier, got the elven medallion. I got nothing but that didn't bother me. I already had what I needed, I knew things they didn't so there really wasn't much they could give me. I was really just happy to be appreciated. After the ordeal we were reminded that the ball would continue on schedule and that we should go get ready. That's where I was now.

I stood out at a balcony outside the main hall, a once full bottle of wine in one hand, and Derflinger propped up on the other end of the Balcony. I didn't quite feel like socializing after getting tipsy so Derflinger was my only company at the moment. Then I heard what I was waiting for.

"The daughter of Duke Vallière, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière arrives!" proclaimed one of the guards.

_No mention of the chevalier title? _Said my inner monologue. _I guess the princess hasn't signed the papers yet or something._

Then I saw Louise and all thoughts left my brain. I had forgotten just how beautiful she could look when she tried.

"She cleans up nice doesn't she partner?" asked Derflinger.

"Shut up, stupid sword." I was grateful I had already drank the whole bottle of wine before hand so I had a perfect excuse for why my face was so red.

Many people asked to dance with Louise but she turned them all down. She scanned the room like she was looking for someone, then her eyes settled on me and she walked to my balcony.

"Enjoying the party?" she asked.

"I'm torn on whether to say something stupid like 'no' or say something even more stupid like 'I am now that you're here." _Really? That's the best answer you could come up with?_ 'It wasn't an answer, it was me not acknowledging that I don't know which of the two to use.' _Doesn't make it any less stupid. _I hope that my inner monologue doesn't constantly mock me like this.

Louise laughed a cute little laugh that almost killed me right then.

"But enough about me, why aren't you dancing with anyone?"

She blushed and suddenly gain a great interest in her shoes. "Now it's my turn to be torn on whether to say something stupid like 'I had no offers' or say something even more stupid like 'I wanted to dance with you."

If it hadn't been for the fact that I had put the bottle on the balcony's hand rail, I would have dropped it right then. Thank god for alcohol's uncanny ability to hide the fact that I'm blushing so hard right now. _Wow. I can't believe your stupid line actually worked._

Louise looked at me and asked in an embarrassed voice that was almost too adorable to be her own, "May I have this dance sir?"

I look at her, smile, and reply "Of course miss."

I take her hand and we assume slow dancing formation. A quick glance at Derflinger shows that he is trying his hardest not to burst out laughing at the scene before him.

"Its odd." I say.

"What's odd?" asks Louise.

"I believe it was this very ball, with those exact words, that I fell in love with you. It only got worse after that." I say.

Louise blushes and looks aside for a bit. "I believe you now Saito."

"Ah, which claim? That I'm from the future or that I'm from another world entirely?"

Louise shakes her head. "The Staff is a weapon from your world isn't it? It is most certainly nothing like I have ever seen, and I don't see how you could have known about Fouquet's plans inside and out with some type of prior knowledge of the situation. But that's not what I was talking about."

Okay, now she lost me. "Um... Then what are you talking about?"

Louise turned crimson again. I have to admit, she's getting really good at that. Soon she'll probably be able to do it on command.

"That time, when you said those things... about loving me." I could already see where this was going. "I thought you were just saying things to try and prove a point, or toy with me or something." Was it just me or was she close to tears? I wonder why. "But I believe you now."

Now even the alcohol I drank couldn't be used to excuse how red my face was right now.

"When you saved me from the Golem both those times, I felt much safer than I ever have. I don't know why. But, thank you Saito. For everything you've done. And for everything you will do."

Louise buried herself in my chest, and embraced her and patted her on the head. Is it possible to fall in love with someone twice over?

*Louise POV*

I slept in my bed that night, thoughts of the ball playing through my head. "What was that? Was that what a confession's like?" I didn't really know what I meant by what I said, or why I said that. I tried to forget about that and focused on earlier. "Saito, he saved me from the Golem twice." I wasn't sure why, but when I was near Saito, I definitely felt safer then I ever had been before. Why was that? Without realizing it, I had gotten out of my bed and had crawled into Saito's little haystack. I wrapped his arm around me and sighed in content. With a feeling of security around me, it wasn't long after that I fell asleep.


	5. Journeys

Author Notes:

Quick note, I'm sure most of you have noticed that I haven't had Siesta in this at all, except for a few passing mentions. That's because I hate her. She as fine at first, but as the story went on my respect for dropped like a rock. Don't worry, I give her some more screen time later on. The same can't be said of Julio. I will mention him maybe once, then kick him out of the story until he is absolutely necessary.

The Wardes/Saito dynamic was always interesting, and I loved writing that out with Saito knowing that they're going to be betrayed. It makes it all the interesting to write out their interactions. Anyway, read, review, leave feedback, and enjoy the story.

5: Journeys

I wasn't quite sure what to think when I woke up. Not only have I never woken up and had Louise in my little haystack, I can't recall her falling asleep in my arms like this. It's happened before, I think, but never at the academy. Honestly, it feels kind of nice. _I guess dreams can tell the future, _My inner monologue says, reminding me of the time I fell asleep in class and had that dream.

"Hey, Louise," I whisper to her. "Time to wake up and start talking."

Her eyes flutter open and look around in a daze before settling on me. "Hi, Saito," she says drowsily. Then she realizes where she is and her eyes open wide, she blushes, gives me a quick kick to the crotch, and gets out of the haystack.

"W-what do you think your doing!" she asks angrily. "Dragging your master into you own bed!"

"A-actually," I say, talking through the immense pain I was going through, "I didn't. I went to sleep, and woke up with you like that."

Louise nails me in the crotch again. I forgot how much pain her kicks can bring. Even dying at the battle against the 70,000 didn't hurt as much as this.

"Y-yeah right! Like I would ever-" then she stops and blushes for one reason or another.

"Oh. Oh founder did I..." She begins then starts blushing harder.

I shake off the pain and stand up. "While you piece out your memory and possible motives," I begin which cause her to blush a little more, "I think I'll head out for a bit."

I walk out of the room and leave Louise standing there blushing, look like she's trying to solve a paradox. Then again, I guess I'm not too far off.

*Scene Break*

So the walk was uneventful. I saw Guiche who has finally managed to get past wetting himself when he sees me, and he's gotten a bit friendlier. He's still trying to get Montmorency to like him again. Something about that strikes me with terror, but I'm not entirely sure what.

I also see Siesta, doing her maidly things. The whole kitchen has taken to calling me "Our Sword," after I beat Guiche in battle using such means. I don't like it much, but it sticks. Siesta isn't that different. She still reads those accursed "romance" novels. Her head is full of I do not know what. She's been "subtly" dropping hints that she would like to try some of them on me. I make excuses and run away as fast as possible.

Okay, I lied, something interesting did happen. I ran into Slyphid, Tabitha wasn't present.

"Hey, Slyphid? Where's Tabitha?"

She looks at me and gives her best dragon expression of what I assume to be, sleeping in, reading a book.

"Oh okay then. I just wanted to ask her a few questions. You can probably answer them, right?"

Slyphid tilts her head a little, confused, but nods.

"Thank you. First off, how's life as a rhyme dragon?" Going straight for the low blow. Classy Saito, very classy. _Hey! Don't do my job for me! Only I get to mock you for stupid decisions!_ 'Then why didn't you?' My inner monologue shuts up after that.

Slyphid jumps back a bit, surprised, then she starts shaking her as if to say, "Nonono, I'm just a dragon! I don't rhyme!"

"Ah, Tabtiha probably told you to keep it a secret, didn't she?"

Slyphid is abut to shake her head no, but she realizes that I've already caught on. She nods.

"Oh, well, sorry for making you break your promise, or whatever." I say a little sheepishly. "Anyway, what can you do? What are your rhyme dragon power?"

Slyphid looks down a little embarrasses. "Irukukuu can talk," I hear her say.

I was a little surprised. So her real name was Irukukuu. I always figured that was a fake name she had made up. "Really? That's amazing!" I say, I might have laid it on a bit too thick, but it seems to really cheer her up.

"Really? Irukukuu is not scary for talking?"

"Or course not! If my sword can talk, I don't see why a dragon can't. Also, don't worry, I won't tell Tabitha that you told me you can talk. We can keep it our little secret." I tell her.

"Really? Thank you big brother!" Exclaims Slyphid/Irukukuu.

"Big brother?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah! Tabitha is big sister, and you are big brother! Because big brother was nice to me!"

"Well thank you, I'm honored to be the big brother of such an amazing dragon." Again, maybe I was laying the flattery on a bit too thick, but it's always nice to have a dragon as an ally, right?

"Thank you big brother!"

*Scene Break*

After talking with Slyphid, I went and did a quick sweep. Everyone seemed excited for some reason. I think it might be the princess arriving but I wasn't sure. Noticing that it was getting dark out, I went back to Louise's room. She was sitting on her bed, almost unresponsive.

"Louise?"

"The princess."

"Ah, I take it the princess arrived at the academy?"

She nodded. In that case, it should be only a few minutes until...

Then I heard someone knocking on the door.

Right on cue.

Louise jumped up and ran to the door. She threw it open and a hooded figure came in and shut the door behind herself. She looked at Louise and took off her hood.

"P-princess!" Louise cried while dropping herself to the floor. She noticed that I wasn't following her example, she grabbed my head and forced it onto the floor at speeds that would have cracked open most large boulders.

"Please Louise, no formalities, we are friends are we not?" said the Princess.

I had my fair share of experiences with Princess Henrietta. She was nice and loyal to her country, but she very much worried about Louise, who was her childhood friend. Henrietta was also not above using some dirty tactics if the need arose, but she preferred to keep it clean and civil. She was also the cause of many misunderstandings that severely hurt my relationship with Louise. Of all the women who created problems between me and Louise, I think Henrietta caused the worst.

"O-okay. Princess." said Louise, rising to her feet. "But what brings your majesty here to this humble room?"

"Well, I-" Henrietta began, before noticing me for the first time. I smile and give a small wave of greetings.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry Louise!"

"Sorry? Whatever for?" Asked Louise.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you while you were with your lover!"

I nearly choke on those words, and Louise blushes furiously.

"H-he's not my L-l-lover! He's j-just my familiar!" Louise said. She never was good at talking when embarrassed.

Henrietta looked at me curiously. "Familiar? But, he looks human."

"Indeed I am. However," I say while holding up my left hand to show her my runes, "I am still very much a familiar."

Henrietta ponders this for a minute before deciding to continue where she left off. "Odd, but not important at the moment. Louise, I have a favor I must ask of you."

Louise stood as tall as she could and tried to make herself sound as brave as possible. "Anything princess! I will do anything to help not only my friend, but the royal family!"

Henrietta smiles, "Ah, you called me friend, this makes me happy. I am getting married to the royal family of Germania to help solidly the alliance. But what I need from you is to go get something for me."

"Anything! Me and my familiar will gladly go get it!" I remember that Louise always was quick to offer her life for the princess. She was so caught up in helping the princess she didn't seem to notice the part about marrying into Germania.

"It's, a letter that I wrote to the royal family of Albion long ago. If it were to come to light, the wedding should be called off, and Germania would no longer ally themselves with us."

"Let me make a few guesses," I begin, surprising the two of them, "You can't tell us the content of the letter, no doubt it hold some very personal information. Also, the people trying to get the letter are the rebels trying to conquer Albion. Am I right so far?"

They're surprised by my grasp of the situation, but Henrietta nods. "That is correct."

"Also," my voice takes on a bit graver a tone, "the letter's in Albion already. Isn't it?"

Louise gasps, "What? Then the rebels already have it?"

Henrietta looks at me stupefied. "How did you know?"

I shrug, "You said that you sent the letter to the Albion royal family. Barring the possibility that they intercepted it when you sent it all those years ago, then the letter is already in possession of the royal family."

Henrietta nods again. "Yes. Louise, I need you and your familiar to go to Albion and talk to Prince Wales. Give him this letter, and he should give you what we need." Henrietta hands Louise a letter, which she outs in her shirt pocket.

Louise looks at me, and we both nod. "We'll do it, your majesty." We say at the same time.

Henrietta sighs in relief. "Thank you Louise. As a token of my gratitude, take this ring." she slips the ring off of her finger and hands it to Louise. "This is the royal family's water ruby. If you are ever in monetary trouble during the journey, do no hesitate to sell the ring to pay for the trouble." Louise nods, and Henrietta turns to me.

"Brave familiar, what is your name?"

"I'm Saito Hiraga."

Her face gives away the fact that my name sounds stupid by this world's standards, but she moves on.

"Since you have agreed to help me in this situation, a reward for your loyalty is necessary." Said Henrietta, holding out her hand.

"P-princess! You can't offer your hand to a commoner!" cried Louise, "It's not descent!"

"Now Louise, a reward for loyalty is necessary, it it not?" Said Henrietta, smiling at Louise.

Louise blushed and looked down.

I'm determined not to make the same mistake as last time, when I went for a lip kiss. I take the princess' hand and put it to my lips. Henrietta smiles, and Guiche breaks down the door.

"Princess! You cannot offer your hand and such an important assignment to a commoner!" Let me, Guiche de Gramont help her majesty!"

Before the princess can respond, I punch Guiche in the face and put him in a neck lock.

"Considering he spied on the whole conversation, should you take him out or should I?" I ask.

The princess shakes her head. "No, the Gramont family has proven to be useful in the past, I see no reason he shouldn't come along with you. I will also arrange for a bodyguard to escort you along your way to Albion."

I release Guiche, who falls over and faints from an opportunity to help her majesty.

"Okay, that wasn't my fault, everyone saw that right?" I ask.

*Scene Break*

"Before we leave I have a request to make." Says Guiche as we stand at the Academy gates waiting for out bodyguard.

"No Guiche, I will not convince Montmorency to go on a date with you." I reply.

"You could do that? Never mind, I wanted to bring my familiar along with us."

"Well, bring him out and let's see." Says Louise.

Then the ground rumbles and a small mound of dirt rises up, than out pops Guiche's mole, Verdandi.

"Oh Verdandi, you are adorable no matter how many times I look upon you!" Guiche says while rubbing his cheek on the mole.

"Um, Guiche, I don't think it will be easy to bring a mole, an underground denizen, to a floating continent." I tell him.

He hangs his head in dejection, then the mole perks up and rushes Louise.

"H-hey! Stupid mole! Get off me!"

"Guiche, Want to see Louise get molested by your familiar?" I tell him. _Nice pun_ 'It was unintentional!' _Suuuure_

He looks over and cheers up at seeing the humorous scene in front of him. Than things get worse. Verdandi sticks its head in the air, sniffs it, then looks at me, and pounces.

"Oh God! This was so much funnier when it was happening to Louise!" I cry.

Then Verdandi is blown away by a gust of wind. I ignore the wind and turn to Guiche.

"What the hell was that?" I ask him.

He holds his chin and ponders. "Do you have any jewelry in your pockets? She loves gems."

I shake my head, but check my pockets anyway. My left hand closes around my list, My right closes around something cold. I pull it out and see that it's a ring with a purple gemstone in the middle. _No way, _my inner monologue says._ Why is that in your pocket?_

"Ah, that's it. Anyway," He turns to where the wind came from, "What were you thinking? You could have hurt my familiar!"

"Ah, sorry. I saw a young man in danger and I thought to help him out." Says a voice a loathe so very much.

I turn towards the source and come face to face with an old "Friend."

"Viscount Wardes." The name leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Not only is the man Louise's fiancé (It was arranged) But he also betrayed us and is really working with the Reconquista, the rebel force trying to take control of Albion. I did not want to travel with this man again, But I had no choice.

"Ah, so you've heard of me," he says to me before dismissing my existence and turning towards Louise. "And how is my young fiancé doing today? It's been so long since I last saw you!" He says picking her up.

"V-viscount! Please stop, there are people present, and the wedding was arranged." Louise says while blushing. I honestly don't remember Louise blushing this much. Last time I could count the amount of times she did by this point on one hand, with fingers to spare.

"Ah, my apologies." After more formalities, he turns to me and Guiche.

"Shall we be off?"

When he stops looking at me, I give him my best death glare, but no one seems to notice.

*Scene Break*

"Gah, remind me to never ride on horseback again." I complain to Guiche. We had been riding for maybe five or six hours and had just now reached that canyon that leads to the port where we take the ship to Albion.

"I agree to that statement." I have to admit since during this ride we had no choice to talk to each other, since Louise was up on Wardes' griffon, I found out that Guiche is a really nice guy. It's just that, like Louise before and just about everyone else, he has a high level of noble pride. Once he got past that, he was easily someone I could see hanging around with other people after school or something.

I look up to the griffon where Wardes and Louise are riding. Every time he touches her, I feel like jumping up and their and cutting his head off. 'Hey inner monologue,' _Yes? _'Any idea what they're talking about up there? _Nope. _'Thanks for the help.' _What do you expect? I know what you know, nothing more._

*Louise POV*

"Wardes, shouldn't we slow down a little? Guiche and Saito look like they're close to collapsing." I look back and see that they're barely holding on. At this rate, they'd collapse from exhaustion before the horses do.

"Hm... well I planned on riding to the port without stopping." says Wardes.

"But that takes two days by horse! We can't just leave them!"

"You seem very eager to keep them close by. Which one's your lover?"

I blush furiously. "W-what? H-how could I love either of them!" Without even realizing it, I started thinking about Saito, and those times he saved me from Fouquet's golem. _Do I really not love him? No, of course I don't love him... do I?_

*Saito POV*

We kept riding along until we hit a canyon. Then a thought hits me, and my inner monologue speaks up. _Isn't this where..._

Then the flaming arrow lands in front of my horse.

The ambush happens. I complete the thought to myself.

After the arrow landed, a large group of bandits jumped out from behind the rocks and started to rush us. I jump off my horse and draw Derflinger and assume battle stance...

Then before I can even move a step, fire and ice rains down from the sky and the bandits are knocked out, ending the battle that never began. I look up and see Slyphid, with Tabitha, in her pajamas for some reason, and Kirche on her back.

I sigh and sheathe Derf. _Right, they saved us last time too. Could this trip get worse?_ I already know that answer. It can, and will, get much, much worse.

*Scene Break*

Kirche saw that we had all left and decided to follow us. She brought Tabitha along since she need Slyphid to catch up. After introductions, Kirche's face when she found out about Wardes being Louise's fiancé was priceless, Kirche was busy trying to forcibly cause her bust and my arm to merge into one single being. I did my best to get her off before we got to the hotel.

When we got to the hotel, nothing is really different. Kirche and Tabitha got a room, Guiche and I got a room, and Louise and Wardes got a room (How I hate that man). I had decided not to spy on them this time, I didn't want a repeat. But my distrust and unease got the better of me. I hang out on the third floor outside the window that looks in on Louise's room. I forgot that I can't hear a word they say, but I feel safer knowing if anything goes wrong, I at least know.

"Hey partner, Why are we spying on them? Are you jealous of the Wardes fella getting her before you do?" Derflinger asks me laughing.

"Yes and no. I don't trust Wardes. I know he's going to betray us."

"How so? Oh right. Future," then Derf realizes what I just said and almost gasps. "You mean he-"

"Yep, evil. Reconquista, the whole deal." I leave out the part about murdering Prince Wales.

"Shouldn't we kill him them? It would save us a whole lot of trouble."

I shake my head "We have no reason too yet. If I kill him before he reveals his intentions, then I would be seen as the traitor. That and if I alter the timeline too much, something even worse might happen."

Before Derf can say anything, Kirche falls on top of me, knocks me off the ledge, and nearly breaks my neck, spine, and almost fractures my skull in one swoop.

"Thank you Kirche, I wanted to almost die." I notice that I've been deadpanning a lot. I should probably fix that.

Then she starts hugging me, which I try to shake off. She starts muttering about missing me and wanting to be mine. I try to get her off before she tries to rape me, when I'm saved by the peach-haired bell once again.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUTSIDE MY WINDOW!" Louise asks us. I almost point out that we are actually on the floor, three stories down from her window, but I figure that would make her even more mad.

"I would love to explain but-" That Kirche covers my hand and turns to Louise.

"Isn't it obvious? We're on a date!" Kirche says.

I get her hand off of my mouth and scream to Louise,

"Get her off me and I'll do anything you want! Please!"

Louise sighs, leans out her window a little more, and aims her wand to at Kirche. The explosion from her wand knocks Kirche off me and only mildly injures my spine. I crawl up to her window, jump into her room, and shut the window, lock it, and do the same to the door. _Close call._ I couldn't agree more.

"Thank god. I don't know what she would have done it you hadn't stopped her. I was that close to..." a chill runs down my spine, "I don't want to think about it."

Louise sits on her bed, glares at me angrily, and I can tell she wants an explanation.

"Okay, I was outside the window because I wanted to make sure you were safe, I don't trust W-" I refrain from saying Wardes, because I don't want her to distrust him and cause him to be suspicious then resort to something stupid like mind control to carry out his plan, "W-w-where this hotel is located!" _Great idea to settle on, very clever._ "I don't like this part of the world, it's always crawling with bandits and things like that."

Louise looks at me and her face makes it clear she doesn't believe me. I'm amazed at how good she is at communicating just by emoting. She usually prefers words and actions to emoting.

"And Kirche was?" Louise asks angrily.

"I honestly don't know how she got there, but she jumped down from somewhere above me, then landed on me, knocking me down three stories to the ground. I'm lucky I'm so resilient or I might have broken something."

Louise still looks like she doesn't buy it, but resigns herself to the fact that even if it was a lie, which it isn't, that's probably the best explanation she was going to get.

"My turn, What were you and Wardes talking about?" I ask her.

"You know-"

"No I don't." I cut her off before she can give a stupid excuse to dodge the conversation. "Last time I never got this far."

She winces when she realizes that I'm not leaving until I get an explanation.

"Well, Wardes knows that you captured Fouquet." She begins.

"Really now?" I say, trying my best to sound calm and not suspicious.

"Yes, He also knows that you're my familiar, and that you are Gandalfar."

"Interesting." I say to myself. It takes all of my will to not break down and tell her about Wardes being the one who toys with her and betrays us.

"I think he suspects me of being a void mage."

This shocks me. "He knows your a void mage? Something no one at this point should know?"

"Well, he didn't say that, but he said I have a great power locked in me. That I would be a great mage."

I nod. That is something he would say. "Anything else?" I ask her.

"N-no. T-that's it." She replies, her voice shaking.

I sigh, "Louise, you are a really bad liar. Your voice always shakes when you lie about something emotional."

She eeps at my astounding ability to see through her lies. _If its so astounding, then why did it take you a year to even begin to think that she loved you?_ I don't even dignify that with a response. Louise blushes and hangs her head. "H-he asked me to marry him after this mission."

If I had been drinking something, I would have done a spit take right then. It takes the rest of my will power that I have accumulated to not punch a hole in the wall right then.

Instead I tell her, in as calm a voice as possible. "Okay then. You think about that, I'm going to go to my room and try to suppress my urge to kill him." Oops, shouldn't have let that last part slip.

Before I can see her reaction, I unlock her door, step out and close it behind me. I sigh in anger and head back to my room to sleep. I cannot wait for the moment I get free reign on Wardes.

*Louise POV*

I was asleep in the room by myself that night. After I rejected Wardes advances, he went and got his own room. I think about the conversation I had with Saito. "Why would he want to kill Wardes? I guess if someone I loved was getting married to someone other than me I wouldn't like them very much either." I can't shake the feeling that he knows more than he's letting on. "He's a terrible actor. He tried to act surprised, but I can tell he already knew everything I told him about the conversation, except that part about Wardes knowing about my supposed "great power." I still didn't believe either of them. I just don't see how I could be such a great mage. I think about the very last part of my conversation with Wardes. "Do I want to marry him?" I shake my head. "No, I don't, do I? Why don't I? It's because of him isn't it?" I hug my pillow close to me, and I find myself wishing it was Saito.


	6. Betrayal

Author Notes:

If you're in anyway familiar with the events of Zero no Tsukaima, which I imagine you are if you're reading fan fiction, then I don't think I need to say much about this chapter. One thing of note is that this is the debut of the excuse I came up with for skipping most fights. Is it cheap and a horrible excuse to avoid writing fight scenes? Of course, but it still works. Read, review, leave feedback, and enjoy.

6: Betrayal

When I woke up, I looked around for Louise on instinct. _Ah, she's in her own room. Right._

Then someone knocked on the door. _Wardes? Finally, a chance to vent some anger. Challenge him and be done with it!_

I opened the door, and there he was. Viscount Wardes.

"Wardes! Perfect! I wanted to talk to you." I tell him.

He looks a little surprised, but regains his composure. "As did I. You may talk first."

"Thank you. A duel. Now. Is the courtyard fine for you? Sorry if it seems forward, I just want to see how strong Louise's fiancé is."

He smiles. "Ah this is perfect. I wanted to ask the exact same thing, for almost the exact same reasons."

I smile back "Then a duel it is. See you soon."

*Scene Break*

"So where's the witness?" I ask Wardes.

"Don't worry, She'll be here soon."

Then Louise shows up. She doesn't seem to thrilled about the sight of her fiancé, with his sword-wand drawn, and me with my sword drawn, staring each other down, looking hungry for blood.

"Viscount? Saito? What's going on?" Asks Louise.

"Should you tell her or should I?" I ask the count.

"Go ahead." He tells me.

I nod. "We're dueling and we need a witness. You happen to be that witness," I tell Louise.

She puts a hand to her mouth in shock. "W-What! No! I won't let this happen! Saito! Put away the sword! That's an order!"

"Don't worry Louise, This is a friendly little spar, right Wardes?"

"Yes my Louise," (I try not to strangle him right then for that remark) "Neither one of us is going to die. We simply want to measure each other's strength."

"Yes, now shall we begin?"

"I make it a habit of letting my opponent have the first move. Please hold nothing back."

"Gladly." I charge towards him. I plan on only giving half of what I got, at most. I want him to think I can be easily beaten so he underestimates me during our rematch.

When I get in close enough I try a horizontal slash, which he easily jumps over. I'm only going half my total speed, so he easily outruns me. I chase him down and try multiple slashes which he either sidesteps, or deflects off of his sword-wand.

"Your technique is sloppy, your swings are that of an amateur, no sense of strategy. Do you know what that means?" He asks me before assuming a combat stance. Then he casts the spell he had finished a while back while I was chasing him down.

"Air Hammer."

I put up Derflinger to try and absorb it, But I remember he doesn't remember that he can do that yet. As it stands, all that happens is that I take the full brunt of the Air Hammer, and was sent flying backwards. I hit one of the stone pillars surrounding the courtyard. Sadly I hit it head first. My vision goes fuzzy, and I'm pretty sure I feel blood rushing down the side of my head. When I look up, I see Wardes standing over me looking high and mighty, and Louise looking close to tears.

"I don't believe you told me what you mean by that last question." I tell him.

He glares at me, How dare I have the nerve to speak after being so thoroughly curb-stomped! "It means that you aren't capable of protecting Louise."

If it weren't for the fact that I might have a concussion, I would have gutted him right then.

Louise pulls out a napkin and starts trying to clean up the blood that's running down my head. Wardes looks at the scene like its the most disgusting thing he's ever seen and walks off. When he's out of earshot, Louise draws closer.

"You idiot. You could have died!" I can't tell if the warm liquid hitting my cheek is my blood or her tears.

"Yeah, I could have. I probably should have put more effort into that fight than I did."

"W-what?" Louise asks me.

"Yeah, I need him to think that was the best I could do. Don't ask now. You already know I can't explain at the moment."

She still looks worried about how I almost got myself killed. Almost getting your familiar murdered, inadvertently or not, by your fiancé is bound to put you in a sour mood.

"Also, while I'm thankful for you helping me with this horrible headache, I wouldn't worry too much. I gotten much more painful injuries and survived." I explain honestly.

"Really?" she seems horrified at the fact that I nearly get myself killed very often.

"Oh yeah. Much worse," I intentionally "forget" to tell her that I do get myself killed, but that's besides the point.

"Wow, you get yourself into all kinds of trouble don't you?" she says teasingly. I'm momentarily speechless, Louise never took on a teasing tone. _Heh, I think I like this Louise more than the last one!_ I regain my composure rather quickly.

"I guess I do, don't I? Don't worry, I don't get all the fun."

She stares at me like she partially understands, but would like a better explanation. But we can save that for another time.

"Well, we better get back to the hotel. I feel like I really need a nap." I try to stand, but stumble. Louise catches me.

"You can't do anything without me can you?"

I don't know if it's the blood loss or Louise being so close to me, but I feel light headed.

I smile. "Nope. I guess I can't."

*Scene Break*

After that whole incident, Louise helped me to my room. I thanked her, crawled into my bed, and fell asleep, knowing I'd need my energy for tonight.

I woke up to the sound of giant thunderous foot steps outside the hotel. I get up, stumble a bit since I'm not fully recovered, grab Derflinger, and look out the window.

"Fouquet." I mutter when I see the Golem stomping around outside. I jump off the balcony, which was only about ten feet off the ground, and walk up to the Golem.

"Ah! Gandalfar! So you're here. Now I can crush you like the-"

Before she finishes, I throw a rock at her, which hits her square in the stomach knocking the wind out of her. I always thought that I was a bit of a crack shot, so I decided to test my luck. It was better than wasting time trying to fight her and missing the boat. She loses her balance and falls off the golem. I run up and catch her before she falls. As evil as she is, I can't let her die. She is the closest thing Tifannia has to a sister after all.

_I like this strategy. Can we use it on everyone we meet? Just cut them off and be done with it?_ 'Actually, that's not a bad idea. I'll think about it.'

I put her on the ground, give her a small cut on her side, and put Derf to her throat. I don't want her getting away before I get some solid information.

"Sorry about that. I just didn't really have time for this, and I really wasn't feeling up to it right now. So how about a deal? You give me some info, I let you go free. Sound fair?"

Realizing she doesn't have a choice in the matter, she nods her head.

"Good. Now first off, who let you out of jail?"

She shakes her head. "I can't tell you. He'll kill me if I do."

I sigh. "Fair enough. I wouldn't want you to sign your own death warrant or anything like that. Then can you at least tell me what he wanted you to do?"

She nods. Good, some cooperation. "He wanted me to stall you, so you wouldn't get on the ship and never make it to Albion," she gives a weak smile, "Guess I failed."

I nod. "That's really all I need from you. Don't worry, you can go free. Also, I'll even tell Wardes you're dead. Would that help?"

She gasps in surprise, before wincing and grabbing her side. I guess I overdid it a little.

"How did you know?" she asks.

I shrug, "I know a guy who knows things. Let's leave it at that." I put Derflinger back in his sheathe. "Go on, you might want to get some help for that wound. There's a medic in the hotel. If they ask, tell them you were being mugged. I'm sure they'll believe it."

She nods and starts limping towards the hotel. Halfway there, she turns and looks at me.

"I don't believe I ever caught your name."

"I'm Saito Hiraga." I tell her. Since I haven't earned my noble title yet, I decide to just forget about it and stick to my regular name.

"Thank you, Saito Hiraga." she turns around and heads on towards the hotel.

I stand there in shock for a few minutes before realizing that I need to get to the ship. Fouquet didn't realize it, but she did manage to stall me. I rush towards the port, a hand on Derflinger to activate my runes and give me an agility boost, and find that it's too late. The ship has started to take off. Not losing speed, I jump up and land on the roof of the hotel (I love my Gandalfar powers) and keep running. I make a final jump towards the ship, and almost miss it. I reached out and was able to grab ahold of the ship's railing and I pulled myself up and over, landing on the deck of the ship.

"Great job partner," says Derflinger, "Should we go look for the missy and traitor? She probably thinks that you abandoned her."

I shake my head. "Not yet. Wardes doesn't know we're here. He probably thinks that Fouquet stalled, or even killed us. We have the element of surprise, and it will help us immensely." I tell the sword.

"If you say so partner."

*Scene Break*

I hid myself among the cargo. They would probably come through at some point, and they would never think of checking all the barrels on the off chance I might be in one. At least I hoped not. Then I heard footsteps, so I tuck my head in the barrel, close the lid slightly and peer out the small hole I had cut in it. As I expected, in walked Louise and Wardes.

"No, Wardes, you're lying. There's no way he said that." Louise sounded rather hurt. This was one of the reasons I try not to eavesdrop. You usually only hear half of the conversation.

"I'm sorry Louise, but it's the truth. He said he saw no reason to stay. He felt that I could do a better job at protecting you, and he was upset at you for not trying to help him, or try more to stop the match. That's why he didn't come with us."

_Oh that bastard, _my inner monologue says,_ He'll get his. He'll get his for sure._

"No, there's just no way." Louise breaks down and starts crying.

"It's okay, my Louise. I'll go to the captain and see how things are doing. You should stay here and think things over," says Wardes before turning and leaving Louise.

_This is your chance,_ I open the barrel top slightly and peer to my left. There are whole stacks of paper right next to my barrel. I grab a piece, but realize I have nothing to right with. On a hunch I look to my right and see some quills and ink bottle.

_Wow, the author must be really lazy to honestly believe that anyone will find this contrived coincidence believable. _My inner monologue says. 'What? What author?' _Nothing you need to worry about._

I take the quill and dip it in the ink bottle. I use the side of the barrel leaning up against the wall as a hard surface to right on.

"Louise, Wardes is lying through his teeth. I would have boarded the ship along with you and Wardes, but Fouquet showed up and stalled me. By the time I had finished with her, the ship had departed. I am still near though, considering you got this note at all. Sincerely, Saito."

I finish writing the note, let the ink dry, crumple it into a ball, then toss the note at the wall so it rebounds and lands near Louise. My improbable plan works, and Louise sees the note. She picks it up and unfolds it. She reads it, and her eyes light up, and she gets on her feet and scans the room. She sees the barrel I'm hiding in, and gives me a bright happy smile, the likes of which I have only had the pleasure of seeing maybe one or twice. I silently wonder what tipped her off that I was in this barrel, and then I notice that my hair is poking out the top. I should really get a better hair style than "Spikes in all directions." Louise takes a quill out of one of the crates and writes on the back of the note. She folds it neatly and, making sure no ones looking, slips the note into my barrel before running off.

I unfold the note and read the note.

"Saito, thank you for being there for me. I realize you don't want Wardes to know your here, and I think I know why. So here's the plan, I will agree to Wardes marriage proposal," my heart nearly stops at that line before I realize what she's planning to do, "Then I'll trick him into revealing his true intentions. Then you bust in, do you really awesome sword stuff, and save the day. It's not the best plan, but it'll work right? See you soon. Love, Louise."

I swear that girl developed psychic abilities recently. She knew, down to every last moment, how this was going to go down. I smile, lean back in my barrel, and fall asleep, waiting for us to reach Albion. When I finally get to truly fight Wardes.

*Scene Break*

I bided my time while I waited for the wedding. I followed Louise and Wardes around to make sure that they didn't decide to do the wedding ahead of schedule. They didn't and when the time came, they went to the chapel with Prince Wales. It was a bit saddening to see him alive again, and marching off towards his death, with nothing I could do to change that fact. Putting that thought process aside I followed them into the chapel as stealthily as possible. I wanted no one, not even Louise, to know I was there. It would ruin the one advantage I had. I hid myself behind one of the pillars holding the building up. This pillar was near enough the altar that I could hear every word being said, and see everyone's faces, but far enough away that they hopefully won't notice me.

The wedding ceremony began. Wardes said his vow and everything, then Wales turned to Louise.

"Bride, third daughter of the Vallière family, do swear to love this man in the name of founder Brimir?" asked Wales.

This was it. The moment of truth, if Louise was going to do anything, it had to happen now.

Louise blushed and looked down, as if thinking about something. Then a shook her head, "I'm sorry. I can't do this."

Wardes was surprised. "Now's not good? Okay then, another ti-"

"No. I'm sorry, but I can't marry you." Louise said interrupting him.

Then Wardes' mind blew apart. He grabbed Louise's shoulder. "N-nonsense! You're just nervous is all! After all, I need you Louise! The world will be mine! And you are the key to that!"

Louise tried to back away, but Wardes kept an Iron grip.

"Wardes, she said no. This ceremony cannot continue. If you continue trying to force her, I will resort to my own force," said Wales, trying to calm down the rampaging Wardes.

Wardes smiled and let go of Louise. "Such a shame. It appears I can only accomplish two of my goals today."

Louise looked more terrified than I had ever seen her. "What do you mean?"

"My first goal was you Louise, sadly that doesn't appear to be achieved anytime soon."

"Absolutely not!" cried Louise, her voice shaking with fear.

"No. It appears not," mused Wardes. "The second goal, was the princess's letter."

Wales, brave stupid soul he is, realized what was happening and pulled out his wand and started chanting. Wardes dashed up to him and stabbed Wales through the heart with his swand. _Swand? _'You know, sword wand.' _So you call it a swand?_ 'You have a problem with that?' _No, no, call it what you like._

"The third goal, was your damned life, Wales," snarls Wardes.

Wales falls to the ground, and is dead within seconds. Than Wardes turns to Louise and makes his first mistake.

"Now then, since you won't give me the letter willingly, I'll just have to kill you and pry it from you cold, dead hands," he says while raising his swand.

"Saito!" Louise calls out.

"The boy can't help you now! Fouquet has already dealt with him! He's long gone!" screams Wardes as he swings his blade down, only for it to stop short.

"Well now, let's not jump to conclusions shall we?" I say tauntingly as I push his blade away with my own. _Yeah! That was awesome! You need to make more entrances like that!_ 'Yeah, let's not make it a habit of almost letting Louise get killed just so you can have fun with the entrances.'

Why didn't I jump in earlier? Well, Wardes is a hardened warrior. If I jumped in at the wrong time, he would have heard or seen me, cast some type of wind magic to keep me at bay, then killed Louise, Wales, and get the letter. The timing had to be perfect. And how much more perfect can you get than when he's yelling at the top of his lungs like a madman, with his eyes focused solely on the girl he intends to cut down?

"S-Saito." Louise stares at me, almost not believing that I came to save her. She starts to cry and runs behind me, using me like a shield. Which isn't that strange considering, you know, Gandalfar, the shield of God.

"How are you still alive? Fouquet should have-"

"Yeah, it's kind of hard to stall someone when you're dead." I tell him.

"What? Then you... Hmmm. I didn't think you had it in you lad. Anyway now that you're here, you can die with the girl as w- Arrrrrgh!"

That last part was because while he was talking, I cut off his left arm. _Told you, this strategy works!_

"Seriously man," I tell him calmly, "Fouquet lost the same way! You people need to pay more attention when someone's out to kill you." I say that last part with an extra hint of spite and anger in my voice.

"I-I'm not through yet!" he jumps back a good ten feet and raises his wand and starts chanting.

"That's lightning cloud!" cries Louise. That spell and I go way back. When I was first struck by it, it nearly barbecued my arm. Three guesses as to who casted that spell.

"Partner! I remember! Raise me up!" shouts Derflinger.

I oblige and hold him up to block the lighting strike about to happen. Wardes finishes casting and fires. Louise closes her eyes and clings to me for support. I stand firm and wait for the moment of impact.

It never came. Derflinger absorbed the whole lightning strike with no trouble or impact at all.

Wardes is clearly confused and starts firing spells as quickly as possible, Not one makes it past Derflinger. Then he starts glowing.

"This is my true form partner! I absorb all the magic around me! I'm old and forgot but now I remember! That's me, Derflinger, the left hand of Gandalfar!"

When he finishes glowing, he's no longer rusty. Derflinger is now smooth polished steel, and is ready to take on anything. Wardes realizes he can't win and calls in his griffon, which breaks through a window and picks him up

"Only one goal accomplished after all. But that doesn't matter Gandalfar, we will meet again, and you'd better be ready!"

"Hey Wardes, just to let you know, I held back a great deal during that duel. If I went full out, I would have easily won." I figure I should let him know that info before he leaves.

His face contorts in rage, then he flies off.

"That was easier than I remember. Are you okay Louise?"

I look over and she that she's passed out. I don't blame her. It's been a long day for her. I head over to Wales corpse and take the earth ruby off of his hand, with the intent of giving it to Henrietta.

"Oi, partner," says Derflinger, "shouldn't you be more worried about the army about to storm in here?"

"Let them come. I will strike down as many as I need to in order to protect Louise."

"Now you're talking! Let them come! We'll cut them all down!"

Just then, I see a small mound of dirt rise up from the ground, and Verdandi pops out of it.

"Verdandi, where have you taken... Saito!" Says Guiche, who has also popped out of the hole. "Why are you-"

"I'll explain later, we have the letter, let's go!"

I grab Louise and jump into the hole with them. What I didn't expect was that the hole went straight down onto Sylphid's back. It wasn't the most comfortable landing. But it will have to do. We got the letter, we're all safe, and we're on our way home. Things couldn't be better.

*Louise POV*

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the wind in my face. I opened my eyes and saw Saito. I looked and saw Kirche, Tabitha, and Guiche. I looked down and saw that we were riding on Slyphid. "That's right. Wardes killed Prince Wales. He would have killed me, but Saito saved me. Saito saved my life again." Those words ricochet through my head for a bit. I'm so caught up in my own thoughts, that I don't notice Saito getting closer. When I do notice, its too late, and his lips overlap mine. My brain shorts out and it's a while before I can think straight. My first instinct was to push him away, but I realize two things. I have no strength left, and I don't want to push him away. "I-I suppose this is fine. I can just pretend to still be asleep," I think to myself.


	7. Treasure

7: Treasure

Well the ride back from Albion was at least interesting. I didn't want to kiss Louise like that, even though that's what happened last time, but I couldn't resist any longer. I hoped that wouldn't cause her to somehow revert back to her original, trigger happy self. _If she does, I'm blaming you._ 'It's not my fault she's so cute when she's sleeping!'

Anyway, after that little incident, I explained everything that happened to Kirche, Guiche, and Tabitha. When Louise woke up, she had helped me fill in a few details that I wasn't their for, such as the trip to the port where they were attack by a masked man. I explained that the masked man was most likely Wardes using one of his wind spells to create solid duplicates of himself.

After the explanation, Syphid hit a bit of turbulence and shook violently. I think Guiche fell off, but I didn't really care enough to check. Louise almost fell off, but I grabbed her to make sure she didn't.

"You okay there?" I ask her.

"I'm fine," she grumbles. "You didn't have to help." Great, my worst fears are coming true. Her inner anger is starting to surface! My crotch will never be safe from her kicks ever again! _This is your fault. _'Really? I didn't hear you trying to stop me." He shuts up, He's starting been getting better at being quiet, something I am eternally grateful for.

"Yes, I'm sure you would have. But I wanted to help anyway. It would really suck for you to die before we got back home wouldn't it?"

Louise grumbles in agreement. I figure her next course of action is to remove my arm from around her, but I'm wrong. Instead, I think I hear her sigh in content, and she scoots closer to me, almost snuggling. I get a little light headed, then I remember what happened last time and get pulled back to reality pretty quickly.

"Oh, when did you two get so close?" Asks Kirche in a voice clearly meant to try and incite Louise. I brace for the impact of a kick to the face, followed by hitting the ground. Instead, Louise once again defies my expectations.

"N-no! We're not close! Not at all!" Said Louise blushing. Instead of pushing me off and being done with it, she does the exact opposite thing we all expected her to do, and ended up getting even closer to me. _Well, _my inner monologue says, _It appears she's gone from being incredibly violent, to incredibly contradictory. Not that that's a bad thing._

Kirche looks disappointed that she didn't see Louise go all red with rage and hit something in the face. I didn't really know how to react to this sudden upheaval of everything I knew. I'd have to make sure to come up with something to shock my brain into reality later.

*Scene Break*

After we got back to Tristain, we reported to the princess. We give her the rundown of everything that happened. When we got to the part about Wales murder, she started to cry. I gave her the earth ruby ring and made up a few last words that sounded like Wales would have said. She nods, mollified.

Weeks passed and the summer term started. Most of the students left, but the few that I knew stayed behind. Of my little circle of "friends," only Kirche, who had gone home to Germania, and Siesta, who had gone back to her hometown to visit her family, had left the academy. Louise permitted me to sleep on the bed, and I started attending some lesson with her, but nothing else really happened.

One day I pulled out my list and took a look at it. The next event listed happened on its own, but this time I might need to give a little shove in order to get it going. I was going to bring it up with Louise when Mr. Colbert opened the door and came in.

"Louise, the headmaster would like to talk to you. Report up to him in ten minutes." Then Colbert closes the door and walks away.

Louise looks at me to ask what she should do. Realizing this is my chance, I take advantage of it.

"Go on. It's important. Also, just to let you know, I think I'll head on down to Tardes."

"And why would that be?" Louise asks.

I shrug. "Well, we haven't seen Siesta in a while so I figured we should drop by and say hello."

Louise nods. "That's nice. Now what's the real reason?"

Crap. I forgot, she's smart. She knows I would never just bring up something like this without an explanation.

"I forgot how smart you can be. Anyway, its nothing you need to worry about. Yet. Let's just say it's a surprise. A big one." I try to avoid discussing the nature of the surprise.

She glares at me, clearly unimpressed at my explanation. "Fine, but I'm going to!"

I smile, "Frankly, I'd be disappointed if you didn't."

*Scene Break*

"So you have to write an edict?" I ask Louise as we walk down the trail to Tardes.

"Yes. It needs to be poetic, rhyme, and give thanks to all the elements."

"Well you have my sincerest apologizes. I can't help you in any way with that."

"Well, I'm not good at this either!" she yells at me, "That's why we're going on this trip. For inspiration!"

"And to see Siesta, right?" I tell her.

"Oh yeah, that too." She replies sheepishly.

"Saito! Miss Vallière! What are you doing her?" Siesta asks, hugging us as soon as she sees us.

"We just though we'd drop by and see how you're doing." Louise responds. They strike up one of those girl conversations about various things that don't interest people like me. I'm surprised at how buddy-buddy the two of them are, last time they were at each other's throats just for breathing the same air for a few minutes. _Well there was that one time with the potion and the cream_... I have enough time to think 'You bastard' before my brain recalls everything I saw during that event. My nose explodes in a sea of red, and I pass out.

When I wake up, I'm lying down in a bed, and both Louise and Siesta were hovering over me worried looks on their faces. They definitely seem relieved when I wake up.

"Um... What happened?" I ask the two girls.

"After Siesta and I finished out talk, we looked over to call you down so we could tour the village, but you we collapsed on the ground, with blood coming from your nose." Louise states, her voice shaking from what happened.

"You lost a lot of blood Saito. The fact that you're alive is one of medicine's greatest mysteries." Siesta adds.

"What? Really?"

"Well, that's what one of the medics who we had look at you said."

"What happened Saito?" Louise asks me.

I can't tell them the that I was reminded about the time with the potion. _Sorry._ "I guess a rock hit me or something." I say trying my best to not sound like this was a story I pulled out of thin air.

Siesta accepts it, but Louise isn't as certain. She glares at me a bit before deciding that it would be better if she didn't ask. Instead, she puts on a smile and asks, "Well, since you're feeling better, how about we go tour the town?"

*Scene Break*

The tour was... Uneventful to say the least. I forgot that Tardes is a really small town. We had just one more stop before the tour was over, and it had only been maybe ten minutes.

"This is out final stop." Said Siesta, trying her best To be a tour guide. "This is the treasure of the town. This is where we keep my family's prized heirloom, the Dragon's Raiment."

My attention is suddenly focused on Siesta as she says that. I run past her, open the door she was gesturing at, and see it. The zero fighter is still as magnificent as it was the first time.

"Um... Saito? What are you doing?" come the, clearly confused, voices of Siesta and Louise.

"Siesta," I begin calmly, trying to hide my excitement at seeing the zero fighter again. "You said this was a family heirloom, correct?"

"Y-yes. It was my great-grandfathers. It doesn't fly though," she replies. She sound nervous. I wonder why.

"Can you take me to his grave? I need to check something."

"S-sure. Follow me" she turns around and starts walking away. I take a step to follow her before Louise grabs me by the sleeve.

"Saito, this is something from your world isn't it?" Louise asks.

"Yes, it is."

"This is why you wanted to come to Tardes isn't it?"

"My, you are smart, aren't you? Only partially, but yes. I really did want to see how Siesta was doing. I haven't spoken to her much. Anyway, come on, let's go check out that grave." I follow Siesta, Louise trailing not to far behind me.

It's not and long walk before I see the tombstone. I go up to it and inspect it.

"Sorry if you can't read it. He insisted on that writing. He said that if anyone can read it, they can have the dragon's raiment." Siesta tells us.

I grin back at her, "Well then it's a good thing I can read it, isn't it?"

Siesta looks shocked and covers her mouth with her hands. Louise just nods like it doesn't surprise her in the least. I point at the description and translate for them.

"It says, 'Navy ensign Sasaki Takeo, rests in another world.'"

Siesta is struck speechless at the fact that I can read it with ease. "I-i'll go let papa know that you can read it, then the dragon's raiment will be yours! Stay here, I'll be right back." Siesta says before running off.

Louise looks at me. "That's your world's writing?" she asks me.

"Well, in the country I come from yes. Other countries have different languages and writings."

Louise nods. "Just like we also have the ancient runes and elven languages."

A thought crosses my mind. "Hey Louise, want to learn my world's language? I could teach it to you."

Louise looks at me, surprised. "W-what?"

"Think about it. If I taught you, we would be the only two people in this world who could understand it. If I needed to tell you something that we couldn't let someone else know, I could do it in my language, and only you would know what it means." _Ah, smart. This way you can write all sorts of dirty things that you want her to read, and only she would be able to read them! _'Have I told you how much I hate you sometimes?' _Constantly._

She ponders for a bit, then nods her head. "That sounds like a good idea. We'll start as soon as we get back to the academy."

Then Siesta comes back. "The dragon's raiment is now yours Saito! Papa already arranged for some dragon knights to come by and bring it back to the academy, only you have to pay them."

"I'm sure we can convince Colbert or someone to pay for it or something," says Louise.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Anyway, it's been nice seeing you Siesta, but we have to get to the academy."

She smiles and bows. "Thank you for visiting! Feel free to come back anytime!"

*Scene Break*

When we got back to the academy, we were successfully able to convince Colbert to pay for the transportation fair. He spent at least an hour simply looking at the zero fighter and asking me questions about it. I did my best to answer them. I explained that it couldn't fly because it need gasoline, I got him some samples from what was dripping out of the fuel tank and gave them to him so that he could work on creating more.

I left Louise in her room to work on the edict, an ultimately useless endeavor when you consider the upcoming war, while I worked on getting the zero fighter working as well as it possibly could before its big debut. Other than that life went on. Since the summer term became fall, many students came back and went to the usual classes. I spent the better part of those weeks working on the zero fighter.

"So this thing can really fly partner?" Asked Derflinger.

"That's correct. While you don't see this model, the concept of the flying machine is seen everywhere in my world."

"Your world is strange Partner. I wouldn't mind seeing it one day."

I let loose a sigh of nostalgia. "Me too Derf. Me too."

*Scene Break*

As the weeks went on, Louise got more... Clingy. She insisted on accompanying me when I went to work on the zero fighter. _You have been working on this a lot. You probably should spend some more time with Louise. _Sometimes I hate it when my inner monologue suggests a good idea. It just seems out of character.

While I'm on the topic of Louise, I thought of how her Japanese is coming along. She struggled at first, as to be expected from learning a whole new language, but she caught on quickly. In a few weeks she could read simple sentences, and was capable of writing a little bit. I could definitely see us using this tactic if we need to spread secret intel or something similar.

One night, Louise asked for my help with the edict.

"Louise, I thought I said I couldn't help you with that." I complain.

"I know. But I need help anyway. This is harder to write than it sounds." She says sighing.

She reads the four lines she has written so far, and I see why she asked for help. He writing skills are beyond my help.

"Well," I begin, "I would tell you to put the edict at the back of your mind."

"Eh? Why?" she asks, alarmed at my willingness to ignore such an important task.

I shrug, "I just don't see a point in writing it. It won't matter in a week anyway." Realizing what I said, I clamp a hand over my mouth. _You idiot._

"What do you mean?" Louise asks, clearly confused.

"I-I've said more than I should have." I tell her.

She pouts, then pounds her fist in her palm, as if she just go an idea. She grabs my arm and pulls dangerously close to me. She looks at me with her eyes enlarged to MOE levels, and says in the cutest voice she can muster, "But Saito, don't you trust me? Don't you trust your master Louise?"

She has figured out my weakness. I curse the founder for this. I reach into my pocket and pull out my list of events. I read it to myself, then tear off all the events that happen after the one I'm showing her.

She looks at me confused as to why I ripped the list. "All you need to know at this point is on this piece of paper. Well, everything up to what you wanted to know. Consider this a final test of sorts. Let's see how well you can read. The one you're looking for is the last item listed."

Louise concentrates on the paper I have just handed her like it holds to the meaning of life. Her eyes scan the page and she starts reading the last line.

"A-albion... De-declares... War," she forms her words slowly. I don't know if it's because she's having trouble reading them, or because she already has and doesn't want to believe it.

"You see why I didn't want to tell you? This war, it messes everything up. That edict you're trying to write? Useless. Keep the book however, you're going to need it later."

Louise just looks at me with her eyes blank. Hearing that you're country is going to war in a week does that to people. She crawls onto her side of the bed and lies down. I crawl in as well. Louise turns to me.

"This war... How bad is it?" she asks in a timid voice.

I think about how to answer. "I remember it being over pretty quickly, but it was brutal. No, I will not give you anymore details than that."

"D-do I do anything important?"

"Yes, though I wish you didn't. Those generals used you like a tool, to be disposed of as necessary." I reply bitterly.

"Are we put in any danger?"

"Every day Louise. Every day."

I hear the covers shuffling and as I'm about to look, Louise puts her head on my chest and wraps her arms around me. I start feeling lightheaded, and try to will myself back to functioning capacity. _You lucky bastard, you're about to explode with happiness right now, aren't you? _'Shut up.'

"I don't want their to be a war. I don't want to put you, or any of our friends in danger. Do we really have to fight?" Louise is crying by this point. I pat her on the head.

"I'm sorry, but we do. By fighting, we help stop the war. It won't be pretty, but its what must be done."

Louise nods her head, then falls asleep. I probably told her too much. I shouldn't have told her about the war. It's something she'll have to face eventually, and I'll have to face it with her, but it still might have been too much. I think back to charging the army of 70,000. I died in that battle, but it helped end the war. I use Louise's calm, even breaths as a lullaby to calm myself, and I slowly drift to sleep.


	8. Legends

Author Note:

It turns out that action scenes are hard to write. Actions scenes where all the combatants are flying around in the sky are even harder to write. Other than that, I'm rather pleased at how it came out, despite the fact that this is probably the shortest chapter in the story. To make up for it, I'll try and get the next chapter up later today. One thing I'm not real pleased with is the ending. I had to think of some reason for the next chapter to happen. You'll understand when you see it. Read, review, leave feedback, and enjoy the story.

8: Legends

It had been about one week since Louise found out about the upcoming war. She was clearly upset at the news and was visibly distressed. When asked about why she was feeling so down, she just put on an obviously fake smile and changed the subject.

Colbert was able to make enough gas to start the engine of the zero fighter, but it would take a lot more to get it up and flying. I told him that maybe five barrels should suffice for a long enough time. I kept working on fixing up the zero fighter to get it in top form.

That's when the news came. The news Louise and I had been expecting for a while now. A messenger came on horse back through the academy's main gate. He seemed to be in a state of panic.

"Albion has declared war on Tristain! The army is already heading for Tardes!" he cried.

Louise looked at me, horrified that my prediction had come true. "You were right. Again."

I nod before walking towards the zero fighter.

"What are you doing?" Louise asks me, clearly worried.

"I thought that was obvious, I'm taking this plane, flying to Tardes, and helping out."

"What! You can't do that! Albion's dragon fleet is the best fleet in the world! You can't hope to stop them!"

"You're probably right. But I have to try right? Otherwise Siesta, her family, and everyone in the village will be killed. You don't want that right Louise?"

She hangs her head, ashamed that she forgot about them. "Then I'm coming too," she says indignantly.

"No you're not. It's too dangerous."

"That's why I'm going! To help you!"

"Louise, stay here. Promise me, I don't want to put you in danger."

She blushes a little, before nodding her head. _You know she's just going to climb into the thing while your not looking, right? _'I'd be disappointed if she didn't. We need her to win, remember?' _Oh yeah. Her void magic._

I rush to Colbert's office to get the gasoline he had made, hoping it's enough to fly to Tardes. I find him passed out over his desk. I grab his shoulder and shake him a bit to try and wake him up. He wakes up, but is still clearly half asleep.

"Saito, what is it?" he asks me.

"Colbert, I need the gasoline to get the thing to fly. Do you have it?"

"Yes! It's right over here, I'll go get it!" I'm amazed at quickly that woke him up. I head back to the zero fighter to get ready for take off. When I get to the plane, I open up the cockpit and climb in. I close the cockpit and wait for Colbert to get there.

"Louise, I know you're hiding behind the cockpit."

Louise pops her head up, surprised that I noticed her.

"I can see that you're serious about this, so I won't stop you. I just need one thing from you."

"What's that?" she asks me.

"You go the prayer book and the ring the princess gave you?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"It's a prayer book right? You might want to start praying for some luck." I tell her seriously.

She nods like she understands. Then Colbert shows up with the barrels of gasoline. He fills up the zero fighter the zero fighter and gives me a thumbs up to let me know it's full. I open the cockpit so he can hear me.

"Thanks Professor. I'll need you to spin the propellor."

"I understand." He tells me.

I close the cockpit. I feel like if I keep talking, I'll lose my nerve and run away. Colbert spins the propellor, and I start up the engine. The propellor starts spinning more rapidly and the fighter moves forward. About 30 feet before we crash into the wall, I pull the lever back and the zero fighter rises into the sky. Louise screams as we quickly gain altitude before evening out. I set course, and make a straight line towards Tardes.

*Scene Break*

It only takes maybe half an hour before Tardes comes into view. There's fire spread out and some troops on the ground. Dragons fly all through the air and the giant airship stands above all of them.

"You can't seriously be thinking about trying to take those dragons out." Louise asks timidly.

"Thinking about it? No. Diving in headfirst thinking of a plan later? Absolutely." My answer doesn't seem to calm her down. _I wonder why that could be. _'Shut up, this plan usually works.'

I pilot the plane and at first, the dragon knights ignore me. Big mistake. I line up the wings of one of the dragons in my sights and pull the handle's trigger. Holes show up instantly and the dragon falls to the ground. Before the rest can react, I start turning and keep the trigger held down. Three more fall down. The knights have caught on to the fact that the zero fighter is very dangerous and start coming after me.

"T-that's amazing! Their dropping like flies! The dragon's raiment is really amazing!" cries Louise.

"Yeah, if only it would ever be this useful again." I mutter.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't have an unlimited amount of bullets, and they're too difficult to craft. If even a single flaw is present, the gun could misfire and seriously damage the craft." I tell her.

"Oh. Such a shame, this metal beast would have been incredibly useful." She says, disappointed.

The battle continues on like this. The dragons keep coming, I keep shooting them down. Than he shows up. I look over to my right and see Wardes atop what appears to be a wind dragon.

"Crap. Wardes is back." I tell Louise.

I have a sudden, rare stroke of inspiration. I fish around in the glovebox until I find what I'm looking for. Then I open the cockpit and toss it out the side.

*Elsewhere*

Gandalfar! There is no way you can escape me! Wind dragons are the fastest dragons in the world! There is no way for you to-"

Then the wrench Saito threw out the window hit Wardes in the face. He fell backwards and slid off his dragon, plummeting to the ground.

*Back to our heroes*

_Poor guy really needs to learn to shut up._ My inner monologue quips.

"That was... An interesting way of dealing with Wardes." says Louise.

"Hey, it worked. No point in complaining about it." I reply.

"I just wish I was more useful. You're doing this amazing things, and all I can do is watch." Louise says sadly.

Then a glow appears from the founder's prayer book. I smile to myself. Time for Louise to learn just how much she can do to help.

"Might want to check out the glowing book. In my experience, it's usually a good thing." I tell her.

She starts leafing through before stopping at one page. It looks blank to me, but she looks at it with great interest, her eyes darting back and forth, reading whatever's written on the page. Then she climbs over the seat and sits in my lap which, under other circumstances, most likely would give me another near death experience.

"Saito," Louise says in a calm, almost monotone voice, "Pilot the Dragon's Raiment over the vessel. I can take care of it from there."

Neither I nor Derflinger question her request. We both already know what's going to happen. I bring the zero fighter over the vessel and circle it. Louise opens the cockpit and stands up. Despite the circumstances, my nose starts bleeding a little. Wind + short skirt + her butt being level with my eye = bad things for my health. _Focus!_ I control my urges and try to keep the zero fighter steady as Louise starts chanting. I immediately feel a surge of power I know all too well from her void spells. I hold off some more guards while I give Louise time to finish her spell. Then she does. She points her wand at the ship and at first, nothing happens. Then everything was engulfed in a bright ball of light and energy. When it dies down, the entire fleet is gone. Vanished without a trace. Louise collapses, and leans against me for support.

"See? I was right. All hail Louise, legendary user of void magic!" I say, teasing her a little while I close the cockpit.

"Shut up, legendary familiar," a small smile appears on her face, but it's clear she's still in a bit of daze.

I smile back. "Let's go back to the academy and rest up." I say before becoming serious "After all, this war is just getting started."

*Scene Break*

It was a few days after returning to the academy when Henrietta requested to see us. I'll try not to bore you with the details, but the meeting was almost unchanged from last time. Louise became part of her majesty's court and was given permission to do pretty much whatever she wanted, provided she showed the proper paperwork. Since I'm only a commoner, the best the princess could give me was some gold coins. We were also enlisted as a sort of trump card to help in the war, though obviously Louise's magic had to be kept a secret.

After that we went through town and did some shopping. Why not? Louise and I both had some cash so why not treat ourselves a little bit?

"Saito, look at how beautiful this necklace is!" Louise says, showing me the necklace.

I grin, its the exact same necklace I bought her as the last time we went shopping here. Some things really don't change do they? "I agree. It suits you." I take the necklace and turn to the shop owner. "How much for the necklace?"

"Three new gold" he responds. I oblige and give him the money, and the necklace to Louise. I intentionally ignore the fact that she's rubbing the necklace against her cheek.

We continue on and I see IT. Hanging on the wall in the back of a second hand clothing store was the sailor suit. So many horrible memories flood back to me. All the joy that thing brought me was nowhere near worth the pain it brought as a result. I grab Louise's arm and drag her off, still ignoring the fact that the necklace hasn't left her cheek yet.

*Scene Break*

"Come on Louise, is that all you got?" an explosion forms in front of me, and I jump back and dodge.

"I would be better if you stopped moving!" cried Louise angrily.

"That ruins the fun and point of these exercises!" I let her know.

Let me explain, after Louise unblocked her magic, I suggested we take up some training to hone her skills. It was tiring work for her, but she was improving. Her aim was getting better, her chants quicker and, most dangerously, her magic more powerful. We briefly considered working towards getting her to move and chant at the same time to avoid danger, but decided that being the "Gandalfar, shield of god" it was my job to protect her, so she didn't need to move while casting.

I hold up my hands in mock surrender. "Okay, I think that's good for today. Very good Louise, you are getting much better, we just have to work on your aim and spell chanting."

Louise sighs. "Do you have any water or something to drink?" she asks me.

I shake my head. "Not on me. Let's head back to the academy and get something there."

She nodded. We had out little practice sessions a good distance away from the academy to keep her magic a secret, and to avoid destroying anything important. I would like them to be a little closer, in case one of us gets hurt and needs medical attention, or like now when we just need something to drink. When we get to the academy, we saw Guiche and Montmorency sitting at a table drinking some wine. This image triggers alarms in my head, but I can't remember why.

"Perfect! Guiche, do you mind if I have your wine? I'm rather thirsty." Louise asks him.

"Go right ahead Louise!" he replies.

_Don't let her drink it! _My inner monologue says, panicking.'What? Why?'

Louise grabs the bottle and lifts it up, then I remember. Montmorency and I try to stop her, but its too late. She drank everything that was in the glass. The love potion included.

"Ah, much better," she says turning to me. "Now lets g-" then her expression changes from happy, to a bit like she's half asleep as soon she sees me.

"Crap," Montmorency and I mutter at the same time.

Louise runs up to me and grabs me by the shirt and buries her face in my chest. This is not good.

"Saito! Why are you so mean to me, You're with me all the time but-"

I immediately tune her out and let her continue rambling about how I ignore her and turn to Montmorency.

"We'll discuss this first thing tomorrow morning. Best start coming up with an excuse now." I tell her angrily. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's Louise doped up on love potion. It's less love and more obsession. Quite frankly, it gets really creepy, real fast.

"Why do you talk to Montmorency! Why won't you notice me when I love you so much!" Louise continues to sob into my jacket.

_Hell yes! We are going to ruin her tonight! _... _Did I say that out loud?_

*Louise POV*

"Saito! Saitooooo! Stop ignoring me! Why don't you notice me? Stop ignoring me! Why do you ignore me? You hate me don't you! Why do you hate me when I love you so much! Saitooooo! Why do you say you love me then ignore me! Saitooooo! Stop ignoring me! Look at me! Look at me!"

Saito sighed. "This is going to be a long night."


	9. Lakeside

Author Note:

I had a little debate about whether or not to split this into two chapters, but it didn't work that well. I couldn't think of a good enough cutoff point, so I left it as is. Honestly, I think it works much better this way.

I absolutely love how I handled the water spirit. You people may not agree, but I love it. If you're wondering where I came up for the idea of the water spirit acting like a little school girl, it all started from wondering why the water spirit wanted the ring back. Yes, its her treasure, but why is it her treasure? I came up with idea of it holding part of her personality on a whim and worked it into the story. I kind of pictured her looking a little like Nagi from Hayate the Combat Butler.

Finally, no. You will never know any of Louise's suggestions. I briefly let my mind wonder what could be horrible enough to cause those reactions and... it wasn't pleasant. Use your imagination. Read, review, leave feedback, and enjoy the story!

9: Lakeside

Sleep did not come easily for many reasons. For one, Louise kept trying to seduce me and kept asking me to try things with her. When pressed on the subject of what "things" she meant, I nearly died of blood loss from her suggestions. I just know that Siesta and her damned "romance" novels are to blame. After multiple rejections, Louise decided to skip the formalities and tried to take off my pants by force. I tied her to the bed using her bedsheets to keep her from raping me in my sleep. She fell asleep, but not after demanding I kiss her and leave a mark on her neck.

Second, I wasn't sure what to think about going to Ragdorian Lake and meeting the water spirit again. She was intimidating the first time, but now, especially with the ring I had, I was terrified. _How come you still have the ring?_ My inner monologue wondered. I decided worrying about it would get me nowhere so I put it at the back of my mind. _At least helping the water spirit will be a whole lot easier._

Morning came. I got out of my haystack, after Albion I was allowed to sleep in the bed but I didn't want to be in the same bed as love potion Louise, and walked to the door.

"Saitooo, why are you leaving?" Louise asked as soon as I opened the door.

"I'm going to go talk to Montmorency and see if she can help cure you of the potions effects." I tell her as calmly as possible.

"It's not a potion! I love this much, I always have!" Louise starts crying. "You just want to talk to Montmorency! You love her more than me don't you! She can't have you!" then she jumped on me and pinned me to the ground. _God help you._ My inner monologue says.

Eventually, after promises that I only love her, she had tired herself out enough and passed out on top of me. I put her on the bed and went to Montmorency's room. When I got there, the door was locked.

"Oi! Montmorency! It's me, Saito. I just want to talk to you for a minute." I say while knocking on the door.

"I don't want to die." I hear someone whisper on the other side of the door. Montmorency probably though I was incredibly pissed at her for doing this to Louise and came for revenge or something.

"I'm not here to kill you, I just want to talk for a minute."

"Really? You're not going to attack me?"

"Absolutely not." I tell her.

The door unlocks and I see Montmorency open the door. She looks terribly frightened, but lets me in anyway. I walk in and look at Montmorency, who looks like she's trying to will herself to be invisible so she doesn't have to deal with my wrath.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean for Louise to drink the potion! It was meant for Guiche and I didn't expect Louise to-" She starts rattling off her words like a machine gun.

I hold up my hand, asking her stop for a minute.

"I know it was an accident. I'm not blaming you at all. That's why I'm here. How do we make an antidote?" I say in as calming a voice as I can.

She sighs in relief, "I would love to make an antidote, I really would. But it's expensive to make. You can deal with Louise like this can't you? Don't you love her or something?" she asks.

"I can definitely tell you I don't like people who suggest trying 'things' involving lit candles, 20 feet of rope, a horse saddle, three fish and a whip at the same time," _I never even knew you could use fish like that,_ "and I definitely don't like people who try to force my pants off!" I tell her.

She blushes, "The potion's that strong? I had no idea."

I set the bag of coins I got from Henrietta on her potion making table.

"Will this be enough to buy the ingredients?"

She looks at the bag of coins, visibly shocked that a commoner has so much.

"Where?" she asks in amazement.

"I know some people, but that's not important right now is it?" I say with a hint of anger in my voice to shock her back to reality.

"R-right! This should be more than enough. I'll ask around, see if the supplies are still in stock."

I nod. "I'll be back in a few hours to see how everything's going. See you later." I turn around and leave her room. A feeling of dread hangs over me as I open the door to Louise's room. A feeling that is proven right immediately.

The first thing I see is Louise lying on her bed, looking as if she was waiting for me to return. The second thing I notice, She's not wearing her skirt.

"L-louise! Put a skirt on!" I tell her, averting my eyes for fear of another nose explosion.

Louise looks at me and blushes. "I won't," she says, her voice quivering. She holds her shirt down, stands up, walks towards me, and I notice the third thing.

"Louise... Do you have any particular reason for not wearing your panties?" I ask, my face deeply red by this point.

"Because the other girls have their own charms. I don't have what they have, so Saito looks at them and not me." Louise says.

I get it, she want's to increase her sex appeal. God help me. Then she jumps on me, pushes me onto the floor, and tries to reach first base. Luckily, Montmorency opens the door at that moment.

"Saito! We have a-" then she notices the scene in front of her.

"Problem? Well I do to. Get her off of me!" I scream in terror as Louise decides to try and go for the home run and starts unbuckling my pants. Montmorency blushes and grabs Louise, and then pins her to the ground.

"See why I wanted her fixed?" I tell Montmorency while I fix my pants. I pick up Louise and drop her on the bed, carefully making sure to not let my sight wander. Then I use the bed sheets to tie her down.

"Anyway, what's the problem?" I ask, getting back to the original reason Montmorency came here.

"What? Oh! Right! It appears as though one ingredient is missing, it also happens to be the most important one. The tear of the water spirit."

"Well, you're a water user right? Let's go talk to the water spirit and ask for the tear." I offer calmly.

"What? We can't just go and ask the water spirit for something like that! If we say just one thing wrong and anger it, we'll be dead in seconds!"

"All the more reason for us not to screw up then, right?"

Then the third member of the group showed up. "No! I will not permit you to put Montmorency in danger like that!" cried Guiche as he burst into the room.

"Guiche?" asks Montmorency, I don't know if she's surprised that he's trying to

protect her from danger or if she's surprised that he's here at all.

"Probably followed you when he saw you heading for Louise's room. In that case, I don't believe we need to explain the situation to you, right Guiche?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "No. But seeing as how... Persuasive you can be, I doubt we can stop you from going to Ragdorian Lake and talking to the water spirit," he says sadly.

"So there is a brain in that head of yours!" I say. "And yes, you are correct. Seeing as how I would probably need Montmorency to summon the spirit, she would need to come too. That one's easy though, It's either come with me to Ragdorian Lake and get the tear, or go to prison. Love potions are illegal you know." I tell her, her face pales as soon as I say that.

"Than I will accompany you!" Guiche declares triumphantly.

I sigh. "You and Louise are going to come no matter what I say, aren't you two?"

"Of course!" Guiche cries.

"Saitooo, stop ignoring me!" I take that as a yes.

"Let's go! To Ragdorain Lake!"

*Scene Break*

"I can't feel anything below my waist anymore." I complain as we finally reach our destination.

"Quit your whining." Montmorency says. "Remember everyone, the water spirit is very powerful, watch what you say. If we anger it, all of us are dead."

"That's a cheerful thought." I say, ignoring the fact that Louise keeps rubbing her cheek against my back and refuses to let go of me.

Momntmorency summons her familiar, Robin the frog. She cuts her finger and lets her blood drip onto the frog's back. Then she sets the frog on the floor and it hops into the lake.

A few minutes later, robin appears again, followed by the water spirit rising from the body of water.

"Oh great water spirit! It is I, Montmorency of the Montmorency family!" I try not to chuckle as she says that statement. "Do you remember the contract you have formed with my family?"

The water spirit looks at her, then assumes her shape. Her face shifts between different emotions before settling on a cross between happy, and angry.

"I remember the water that flows through you insignificant one. What is it that you wish?"

"O great Water Spirit, we beseech you. Will you lend us a part of your body?" Montmorency asks fearfully.

The water spirits face switches to that of a smile.

"That's good right?" asks Guiche.

"I refuse," comes the water spirit's reply.

"Really? Oh well, thanks anyway." Montmorency tries to walk off, but I grab her by the arm.

"Don't even think about it." I tell her. Than I turn to the water spirit.

"Hey! Water spirit! We came all this way to ask for your help. All we ask for is a single, small piece of your body. Someone important to me is in trouble and we need your help to heal her. Have you ever wanted to help someone important to you?"

"Saito, watch your tongue!" Montmorency growls at me.

"Very well," the water spirit said. "I will give you a piece of my body, if you will help me with a problem I have encountered."

"Huh?" Guiche and Montmorency are both dumbfounded.

"Name it. We will help in anyway we can."

"At night, two mages come to attack me. I request that you put an end to their attacks. Then I will give you a piece of my body."

"Accepted." I tell the water spirit. "We will call upon you when the problem has been dealt with."

The water spirit nods and sinks back into the lake.

"How did you?" Montmorency asks me.

"I've had some experience with things like this." I tell her. "Anyway, lets come up with a plan to stop the attackers."

*Scene Break*

The plan was simple. Talk first, and only attack if attacked first. No point in unnecessary fighting right? I have to give credit to Montmorency for the plan. The fact that she always tries to avoid a fight gives her the ability to come up with plans like this. She earns 10 of my respect points. The leader boards so far: Louise with 30 points, Montmorency with 10 points, Tabitha with 5 points, Guiche with 0 points, and then Kirche with negative 7000 points.

_What did Tabitha do to get those points? _'Well, it's more of a preemptive thing for helping us rescue Louise from Myoznitnirn. _Didn't she try to kill you before that? _'That's why its only five points.'

I was elected the negotiator because I had the ability to get out of their quickly if things went south. We hid ourselves behind some trees and rocks and waited for the attackers to show up. It took a few hours, and I had to put Louise back to sleep when she woke up and started complaining that I was ignoring her, but the two figures came. The first was rather tall, and the other was much shorter and held what looked like a shepherd's staff. _Good, it's still them._

I carefully, trying to show no malice or ill will, walked up to the two of them.

"Hi! How's it going?" I asked them cheerfully. Their response was to turn towards me and point their wands at me. I held up my hands in surrender.

"Whoa! Peace! I mean no harm. I just though we could have a little chat." I tell them nervously. Even though I know the two of them won't hurt me, having two wands at the ready pointed at your head doesn't do much for your self-confidence.

"Saito?" asks the short one, taking off her hood.

"Ah, Tabitha, good to see you. How are you doing Kirche?" I ask the two. The tall one pulls off her hood and my fears are confirmed. It's Kirche.

"Darling!" She says attaching her body to my face. "What are you doing here?" she asks.

"Come on, we need to have a little talk. I'll explain everything." I tell them.

*Scene Break*

I sat down and explained who the attackers were to Guiche and Montmorency, who were both surprised to see Kirche and Tabitha here. Before I could explain to Kirche and Tabitha what we were doing here, Louise woke up.

"Saito, why are you with them all the time!" Louise cried before jumping in my lap. "Why do ignore me so much! All I ever do is love you and you ignore me!"

"Louise, we'll talk later, go to sleep now." I tell her in a small state of panic.

"No! You told me to go to sleep 37 times today. I won't go to sleep until you kiss me. No cheap kisses either! Only lip to lip!"

I sigh, and hit her on the head with Derflinger's hilt, knocking her out. I don't remember her being so forceful last time. Maybe it's her built up rage and anger coming out?

I looked over and saw Kirche trying not to laugh. Tabitha has her head buried in a book, but I swear she's giggling.

"My, when did you manage to domesticate that little spitfire? That must have been quite an accomplishment!" She can't hold it anymore and bursts out laughing.

I sighed. "Actually that's why we're here. Montmorency made a love potion for reasons I cannot even begin to comprehend, and Louise accidentally drank it. To fix her, we need a tear of the water spirit to make the antidote to fix her. To get the tear, we had to stop the attackers." I explain.

"Us," says Tabitha.

Kirche's calmed down by this point. "I don't see what the problem is. She's showering you with affection. Isn't having a girl like this every man's dream?"

I shake my head. "Do you know how many times she's tried to force herself onto me? I had to tie her to the bed and sleep on the other side of the room to make sure my pants would be on when I woke up. I hate this Louise, the old one was much better." I explain calmly. _I'm still stuck on that thing with the fish. That was disgusting._

Kirche almost seems disturbed by this fact. "Wow. I didn't know she had it in her." She shakes her head, "Hmm... We'd like to help, but Tabitha was given an order to kill the Water Spirit to stop it's flooding of the town. If the mission's not carried out, it won't be pleasant."

"Well then, let's go talk to the water spirit." Montmorency says, much to my surprise. Another 5 respect points for taking charge.

*Scene Break*

Montmorency called the water spirit and she showed up. Montmorency motions for me to speak, so I step forward.

"Oh great Water Spirit! We have stopped the two who were attacking you." I say, motioning to Tabitha and Kirche.

The Water Spirit nods, "Very good. For upholding your end of the bargain, I will grant you part of my body." As she says this, a small piece of her detaches itself and floats towards us. Guiche pulls out a bottle and catches the tear in the bottle, than corks it.

"Thank you water spirit, but there is one more thing I must ask of you." I say.

"And that would be?" I swear I can see the water spirit raise an eyebrow, even if she doesn't have any.

"The two who attacked you did such as the people of this town are unhappy that you have raised the lake's water level. What could we do for you to return the lakebed to it's original size?" I ask.

The water spirit focuses on me, "Since you upheld the last bargain, I believe I can trust you. A very important treasure of mine has been stolen."

"What! Who would do such a thing!" Montmorency asks enraged.

"One of the men was named Cromwell." The water spirit tells us.

"Isn't that the new leader of Albion?" asks Kirche.

"What was stolen?" I ask the water spirit.

"It was-" Than something in the air changes. The once calm and cool night air becomes freezing.

"You, step forward." She says, pointing at me. I oblige and step onto the shore, You should never disobey a spirit, after all. _This can't be good,_ says my inner monologue, pointing out the obvious.

As soon as I do so, I'm engulfed in a sphere of water. It's transparent so I can see through it well enough to see that I'm being pulled towards the middle of Ragdorian Lake. I see that everyone seems worried that this is happening. Except Louise who, thankfully, is still asleep. Once in the middle of the lake, the sphere pulls me under, I instinctively hold my breath, before remembering that I'm in what amounts to a giant air bubble.

The water spirit appears before me, still looking like Montmorency. She also does not appear to be happy.

"I will grant you five minutes to provide a reasoning as to why my Ring of Andvari is in your possession."

Ah, she noticed. I planned on shooing everyone away before giving her the ring but, being a spirit, I guess she had some kind of radar for it. Not surprising, It is her ring after all.

"I will do my best." I explain to the water spirit how I'm not only from a different world, but also the future. I explain how I spent about a year tracking down the ring last time when I was tasked with finding and returning it, before finding it. I went to go give it to her, but got pulled back to this timeline.

The water spirit looks me in the eye for what I believe to be a solid minute. "You are telling the truth. Good."

"Water spirit, do you know why the ring came back with me?"

"It is a powerful magical artifact. I doubt much magic could interfere with it. Since you have it, I request you give it back," She says holding out her hand.

I reach into my pocket and pull out the ring. I put it in her hand and she slips it onto her finger. Immediately her form starts changing. She becomes shorter, about as short as Louise, and her hair changes from Montmorency's into pig tails, each one reaching to about her waist. She also starts bouncing up and down, smiling.

"Yay! My ring's back! My ring's back!" I'm speechless as this sudden behavior shift. She's acting like a little school girl who just got her first love letter. It's actually kind of cute. _My god, what did you do to her?_

"Thank you for returning my ring! What's your name future boy?" She says that last sentence with a smile and a teasing tone. My brain takes a few seconds before it can function properly.

"I-I'm Saito Hiraga." I can tell I'm blushing.

She giggles. "Well then Saito, hold out your hand." I do so.

She grabs my hand, and pokes the end of my index finger. I single drop of blood falls down onto the water spirit's hand.

"Congratulations Saito! You, and you're descendants will now have my blessing!"

"Really? I just formed a contract with you?" I'm rather stunned by this fact. _You did what?_

"Yep! Now when any of your descendants need my help, just have them do what Ms. Montmorency did and I'll grace them with my presence!" The water spirit says giggling. "Oh! I forgot!"

"What did you forget?" I ask her.

"The contract's not finished yet!"

"Well what else do you need?" I ask her. Instead of answering, she grabs my face and kisses me. After a few seconds, she pulls away. If water could blush, I swear she was.

"There! All done!"

I stare at her, at a complete loss for words. _Whoa. Nice going, getting to kiss one of the most powerful beings in the world. _My inner monologue clearly isn't in the same condition I am.

"Oh? You didn't know? Magical contracts have to be sealed with a kiss. That means all of them!" She says smiling.

"O-okay. Thank you for all of your help, water spirit."

"One last thing Saito."

"Yes?" What could it be this time?

"I like you. You're just my type." She winks at me, then snaps her fingers. The water sphere I'm in shoots me out towards the shore. I look up and see everyone looking at me. _You are a lucky, lucky man,_ says my inner monologue. Then I pass out.

*Scene Break*

I woke up in a carriage. I sat up and looked around. I saw Kirche, Tabitha, and Guiche. I see Montmorency driving the horses, and Louise is asleep right next to me.

"He's awake!" Guiche cries. Everyone's head turns towards me. Except Louise, she's still asleep, thank god.

"What happened?" I ask to no one in particular.

"You tell us. The water spirit was going to tell us what to retrieve, than she put you in that bubble and took you into the middle of the lake. A few minute later, you were shot onto shore and passed out." Guiche explains.

_That's right. You gave the water spirit the ring and... _A blush crosses my face after I remember what happened after that.

"So, what happened darling?" asks Kirche.

"The water spirit and I talked about some things. Nothing important." I say, trying my best to avoid the conversation.

"The water spirit wouldn't have taken you to the middle of the lake to talk in private about nothing important." Montmorency snaps at me. "What happened?" I forgot how scary she can be when upset.

I sigh. "The water spirit made a contract with me, for starters." I begin, making everyone gasp.

"B-but those are almost impossible to form! Even my family doesn't know how we formed the contract!" Montmorency sounds like she's going to explode "What did you do?"

"Um... I was asked to keep it a secret." I say unconvincingly.

"Look, we can tell you're lying. You're even worse than Louise." Kirche says.

"Ring." Said Tabitha, causing everyone to look at her.

"What?" Asks Kirche.

"Tabitha, did you spy on me and the water spirit using one of your wind spells?" I ask her. She nods. Crap, that means she knows about the contract. I blush again.

"What?" Asks Guiche and Kirche at about the same time.

"To keep a long, long story, very, very short, We don't need to worry about finding what she was looking for."

"What? Why?" Everyone asks, except Tabitha. I forgot how good she was with her magic. That must have been some wind spell to reach underwater.

"Look, It's complicated. Let's just get back to the academy and fix Louise before she wakes up."

"SAITO!" Louise cries when she sees me.

"Too late." I mutter before she jumps on me and puts me in one of her death hugs.

"I woke up and you were unconscious! I was so worried! Don't worry me like that again!" Louise says while crying.

"Montmorency, How much longer? I want the old Louise back." I say.

"Only a few minutes. Suck it up."

"A few mintues?" Louise asks. "That's more than enough time!"

"Enough time for what?" I say cringing. I already know I won't like the answer.

"Silly! There's enough time for us to *description of act censored* of course!" She tells me happily.

Everyone is silent. Tabitha drops her book, Guiche is trying to stem the flow of blood from his nose, and I'm not too far behind. A blush is visible on everyone's face.

_Okay, we need to fix her. That's just going to far._ Its always good when my inner monologue and I agree on something.

The silence continues for several minutes while Louise just sits and looks around, curious as to why no one else seems to be moving.

*Scene Break*

"Aaaand it's done!" Montmorency proudly exclaims.

"Oh thank God!" I exclaim with joy, "Give it to her now!"

After that particular little incident in the carriage, we were silent the whole trip. We all agreed that the old Louise was needed ASAP. We had vowed to never speak of this incident again. The sooner it was forgotten, the better. For everyone involved. Guiche, Kirche and Tabitha left as soon as we got to the academy, leaving just me, Louise, and Montmorency in her room while she prepared the potion.

Montmorency mixed in her potion with a small container of water and stirred. She offered the water to Louise, who refused.

"No! It smells funny." She declared.

"Louise. Please drink it, for me." I tell her as gently as possible.

"Okay, but first you have to kiss me. And no hitting!"

I blush, but see no other way out of it. I look over to Montmorency.

"Montmorency, I would appreciate it if you could turn around." I tell her. She closes her eyes and turns around. She clearly understands how reluctant I am to do this. I turn to Louise, draw closer, But than she grabs my head and forces her lips onto mine. In all honesty, if this had been regular Louise, I would have been happy beyond measure. But it wasn't regular Louise. It was scary love potion Louise. I separated at the first possible moment.

"Okay, a promise is a promise, right?" I tell her, my face is so red by this point that all my muscles instantly atrophied from the sudden blood loss. I manage to will my blood to return to normal and regain control of my body.

Louise nods and grabs the container and brings it to her lips. She recoils at the first sip, but then she downs the rest of it in seconds. She hiccups and swoons a little before passing out. I catch her before she falls to the ground.

"Okay, she drank the potion, now what?" I ask Montmorency.

She turns around, her face red for some reason. "Well, she might have to sleep it off for a bit, so just put her in her own bed, and run away. Fast"

"Why?" I ask.

"She'll still remember everything. Everything." Montmorency says, trying to hid the blush on her face. She probably just remembered the carriage ride.

"Crap." Seeing no need to say more, I thank Montmorency for her help, and carry Louise back to her room.

It's another few hours before she wakes up. Her eyes flutter open and her eyes scan the room before focusing on me.

"Ah good, You're awake," I say, breathing a sigh of relief. "Now, since you're all better, would you mind telling me WHERE THE HELL YOU GOT THOSE IDEAS FROM!" I say, almost screaming.

It takes a second before what I'm saying clicks in her head, and she blushes so red that her face, ears, and neck are all a consistent shade of dark red. She pulls her head under the covers and makes it clear she does not wish to discuss the subject any further at the moment. I respect her wishes and sleep in the hay pile. I don't think Louise would like me being in her bed after all that happened. I fall asleep pretty quickly, relieved that we have the old Louise back.

*Louise POV*

"Oh founder, how could I do those things. And to my familiar!" Needless to say, I was embarrassed beyond all measure. I know it was a love potion but still, those were my actions and they were inexcusable. I told myself I would never leave this room again. "I have to wonder, I was throwing myself at Saito. Why didn't he do anything?" I blush when I think about what I suggested. I was going to burn every one of Siesta's "Romance" novels if it was the last thing I do. I don't know how she convinced me to read those books, but I would have my vengeance. Thinking of plans to get back at Siesta, I fell asleep.

*Scene Break*

*Saito POV*

I woke up with the sun shining in my face. It must have been a few hours later than I normally get up if the sun was coming through the window already. I went to the bed to try and wake Louise up. I pulled off the covers and found her curled in a ball.

"Hey, Louise. Up and at 'em! It's morning!" I tell her cheerfully.

"I'm never leaving this room again." Louise said in a whisper so quiet I had to strain myself to hear her.

I sighed. "If this is about the potion, the only people who saw you like that were Montmorency, Guiche, Kirche, and Tabitha, and they were all aware that you're personality was being altered. They all know that wasn't really you." I tell her in an attempt to mollify her.

She sighs and sits up. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"When I was affected by the potion, I was throwing myself at you. W-why d-didn't you do anything?" She asks, her blush returning. I'm surprised at how much this Louise blushes. It's actually really cute, maybe it's just because I didn't see her do it that much last time.

I shrugged, "To be honest, It was really easy to resist. You're requests were... innovative, to say the least." She blushed, "Most importantly, I knew it wasn't how you would really act, I'm not going to defile someone important to me."

Okay, maybe not the best thing to say. Her faces blushes even harder. Note to self: Telling someone you love them after they almost forced themselves onto you after being high does not help their mood much. _I thought that would have been obvious._

"O-okay. Thank you."

"No problem."

"One more question, what happened with the water spirit? I know you got the tear, but I was asleep for most of it. When I woke up, you were unconscious. What happened?" She asks.

Crap, another conversation I did not want to have. I muscle through it and tell her what happened. Everything. By the time I'm done, Louise is no longer blushing, as much as becoming a chameleon.

"The water spirit did WHAT?" She looks close to her emotional breaking point.

"Hey, I didn't know that would happen!" I try to defend the little dignity I have by this point.

"W-what did it feel like... The contract I mean."

I sighed, I should have expected this question. "Well, it was kind of weird to be honest. You know how your mouth feels when you stick you mouth in a body of water and blow?" She shakes her head, "Well, how about drinking some water and having some of it slip out of you cup and slide down your mouth?" She nods, "Well it was kind of like that, but the water stayed where it was, even though the feeling was there."

Louise nodded, but looked desperate to change the subject. "Ah, Ragdorian Lake. So nostalgic."

"You've been there before?" I ask, trying to sound surprised, considering I'd also like the change the subject.

"Once, when I was young. Actually, I think that's where the princess met Prince Wales."

Before I can continue the conversation, Kirche bursts in. Tabitha walks in behind her.

"That's it! That was Wales with Henrietta!"

"Um... What are you talking about and what are you doing here?" I ask calmly.

"Well I wanted to see you two make up, so I had Tabitha help with eavesdropping, but that's not important at the moment! Henrietta was heading towards Ragdorian Lake on horse back with Prince Wales!"

"What! He's dead! We saw him killed!" Louise says in shock.

I shake my head slowly. "No, she's right. Tabitha, get Slyphid, we have to follow them.

*Scene Break*

We followed in the direction Kirche said she saw Henrietta and Wales riding off. Even is she wasn't that accurate, I figured that if we head towards Ragdorian Lake, we'd catch up with them eventually.

"Tabitha, have Slyphid bring us down, Their's something down there." Louise said. Tabitha nodded and had Slyphid put us on the ground. Louise walked forward a bit and knelt down to investigate something. I walked up to her and saw what she was looking at. Corpses. About three of them. I knew the zombie-Wales was responsible.

"Louise, they're already dead. We have to keep moving, or the same things might happen to the princess." I tell her.

Louise nods. "He did this didn't he?"

I nod. She stands up and starts walking towards Ragdorian Lake. We all follow her. I may be the only one who know the circumstances about Wales being alive again, but everyone here agrees on one thing. Whoever he is, he has to be stopped.

"I will personally smack whoever says anything about how quiet it is upside the head." I let the group know before moving on.

*Scene Break*

"Princess!" Called Louise as soon as we hit the Ragdorian shore and saw Henrietta standing next to Wales, who was looking a lot more alive than the last time we saw him. "Get away from him!"

"Ah, Louise. You shouldn't have come." Henrietta said, holding onto Wales's arm. The thought that he was brought to life just to whisk away the princess angered me. I pulled out Derflinger, and my runes started shining.

"Louise, I don't think talking will do any good. Look at her, she's so in love with Wales, she doesn't care that he's a zombie. That or she's being controlled. I'm honestly not sure which, but force will be necessary." I say solemnly.

"Ah, Smart boy. You realize it's a worthless endeavor to talk Henrietta out of being with her lover." Zombie Wales says. "Henrietta will be coming with me of her own free will, I'm sorry but that's how it is."

Tabitha casted her ice spear and launched it at Wales. It went through his body and stuck itself in a tree. Wales didn't even flinch, and the hole closed up immediately. _I know he's currently the enemy, but that may have been one of the coolest things I've ever seen._

"I know it's useless but see that princess? He's a freaking zombie! Experience tells me to run away from zombies, lest you die a horrible death." I try to reason with Henrietta.

She shakes her head. "I know. I know he's not the real Wales. But I have to take this chance. I can finally be with the one I love again. When he died at Albion I though I lost him forever, but now he's here again. I will not let you take this chance from me!" As if she was a god of weather, It started to rain. No one here needed to be told what that meant, considering Henrietta was a powerful enough water mage as it was.

"Okay, time for some force. You fine with killing zombies Derflinger?" I ask him.

"No! I hate cutting the dead. It's unnatural!" He says frightened.

"Than what do you suppose we do, attack the princess?" I tell him.

"Missy! Check the book! You took that potion so you should have a new spell! Hurry! I don't like cutting dead things!"

Louise obliges and checks the founders prayer book, which she carried at all times at my insistence. She stopped at one page and looked at it for a minute. She looked at me, nodded and began chanting. I felt like taking on an army at that moment. All I had to do was keep the two of them busy while Louise finished her spell.

"I'm sorry Louise, but I have to do this," said Henrietta as she casted water tornado. I hated the spell. It seemed unnatural for a tornado made of water to appear on dry land. That and I had some bad experiences with this spell. It cut everything in its path and it hurt like hell. I charged the tornado.

I held up Derflinger, hoping he could absorb the tornado. The tornado overlapped me and Derflinger started absorbing it. It stopped the tornado from advancing, but it also kept it on me. Every part of my body was being torn to shreds. _What kind of idiot charges a tornado AGAIN, _says my inner monologue, his frustration at my idiocy obvious. I feel blood running down my head, arms, legs, and body. Than Louise finishes her spell and the tornado dissipates.

"About time." I say. Than I collapse from either exhaustion, pain, or blood loss.

*Louise POV*

I was proud of myself, I had managed to master another void spell. Once I cast dispel, the tornado disappeared and Wales, the magic gone from his body, collapsed. I know I should have gone to make sure the princess was okay, but I ran towards Saito. Honestly, he was hard to look at. He was cut all over and was bleeding from every one of those cuts. I called Henrietta over and asked her to heal him. She obliged, while apologizing over and over again for being stupid and going with Wales. In all honesty, I didn't really care, I was too busy worrying about Saito. The wounds closed up all right, but he was still going to need some rest. "Why am I so worried about him? I know he can take care of himself, so why am I so worried that he's going to get himself killed?" I torture myself with this question all the way back to the academy.


	10. Homecoming

Author Notes:

This is where I start doing my best JC staff impression. I couldn't think on anything to do with the Charming Fairy Inn, so I just cut it out. Don't worry, it still happened, and elements of it will show up later, you just didn't see it.

If you're a fan of the series, then you now about the boat scene. I kept thinking to myself how to work it into the story, and wrote what you'll be reading. I liked the idea of the roles during the boat scene being switched, though I probably could have handled the aftermath a little better. Still, I like how it came out, and it gave birth to what is easily my favorite line in the entire story so far. Read, review, leave feedback, and enjoy the story!

Homecoming

"So, have you been to Miss Vallière's estate before Saito?" Asked Siesta who was sitting next to me in the carriage. Louise and her evil sister, Eleonore, were in the carriage behind us. We were riding towards Louise's family's estate. I was not looking forward to it.

"I can't say I have been." Not a lie, but not the whole truth. I have been there, quite a few times actually, but I couldn't say that.

Than Siesta did her best Kirche impression and grabbed onto my arm and tried to glue it to her body through sheer force of will.

"S-Siesta? Y-your-"

"But Saito has been so mean to me." She said in mock sadness.

"W-what? How so?" I ask her, scared out of my mind.

"I've been sitting right next to you but you haven't made a move yet."

Before I can explain why I haven't been trying to get in Siesta's skirt, the roof explodes.

"Ahhh!" Siesta screams.

"Siesta, if you don't want to die, than you might want to detach yourself from my arm right now!"

She grabs my arm even harder.

"I don't know what's going on but my heart is pure!" I almost laugh. She calls herself pure by trying to force me onto her and reading those accursed novels? I respond by doing my best to push her away. She refuses to let go, so I try harder. Before the entire carriage can explode, it stops and the driver opens the door.

"Are we here?" I ask desperately.

"Yes. Welcome To the Vallière estate."

*Scene Break*

After finally getting Siesta off of my arm, and Louise learning not to ask Eleonore about her engagement, we went to the dining hall for some dinner. Karin, Louise's mom who was just as terrifying and serious as ever, sat at the head of the table. Eleonore sat across from Louise, and I sat next to her.

"Louise!" Came a friendly voice. Louise turned towards the voice and her face lit up.

"Cattleya!" Louise ran towards her sister and gave her a big hug.

"Oh my little Louise! No, I can't call you that. You're not little anymore!"

I always liked Cattleya. She was pretty much what the ideal Louise would be. Cattleya was kind, caring, beautiful, helpful, and loved animals. She always does her best to help her little sister out. However, she had a rather deathly illness which kept her from leaving the mansion for fear of her health. Then she noticed me.

"Oh! You must be Louise's lover!" She says.

I spit out the soup I was trying, and Louise blushed.

"H-he's not my lover! He's my familiar! He's only my familiar!" Louise cried in anger and embarrassment.

Cattleya smiled at Louise's reaction. "Oh, I'm sorry. My mistake. Please forgive me."

Eleonore was done beating around the bush. "Stop this idle chit chat. Mother, Please tell Louise how stupid she is for wanting to go fight in the war!"

"How am I stupid for wanting to support the royal family?" Louise asked angrily.

"Enough. We will discuss this when your father arrives tomorrow." Said Karin, effectively ending the discussion. Wanting to avoid the frightening atmosphere, I excused myself from the table and went back to my room. I killed time by going over the events coming up next and thinking of ways to help me get through them. Then Siesta burst into my room, a bottle of wine in her hand.

"Saaaaaitooo! You have to try this!" She says pushing the bottle of wine into my hands.

"Um... Thanks but where did you get this?" I ask her.

"Shtole it." She says happily.

"Are you drunk? I asked her.

"Yep! You should be too! Have some!" Than she took the bottle from my hands and shoved the entire damn thing down my throat. I had what most would consider and overdose and blacked out.

*Louise POV*

At Cattleya's insistence, I was heading to Saito's room. I was having trouble sleeping, so Cattleya suggested I go to the person who was occupying my thoughts.

"What? Who do you mean?"

"Why, weren't you thinking of that familiar boy who was with you?" Cattleya asks.

I blush. "N-No! Why would I be thinking about him! I don't love him!"

"Louise, did I say anything about loving him?"

I look down, embarrassed. "Go on Louise, I can see you'd rather be with him."

Eventually, clutching my pillow I get up and headed towards the door, "I-I'm only doing this because you said so Cattleya." I opened the door and walked out.

_I'm not doing this because I want to see him. Being a void mage, I just instinctively feel safer around my familiar. Yeah! That's it!_

When I entered his room, I noticed he was passed out on the bed, and Siesta was sitting next to him.

"S-Siesta? What are you doing here?"

Siesta looks at me. "Saito invited me here."

_What? Why would he do that?_

"Saito said that he couldn't live without me! He was fighting this war to protect me! He told me all about how much he hated Miss Valliere, about how she was terrible!"

Every word she said I felt like I was being punched. _No, he couldn't have said that._

"Oh? Are you okay? You seem upset? Did I strike a nerve?" Siesta says in a voice trying to anger me. My response is to go back to Cattleya's room and cry myself to sleep.

*Scene Break*

*Saito POV*

When I woke up, Siesta was gone, so was the bottle, though I had a solid idea where it went. I tried to shake off the massive headache I had. _Ugh... mental note, never get Siesta drunk. Bad things happen,_ My inner monologue noted. _You'll be crapping out glass for weeks._

Than I heard a knock on the door. I stumbled over to the door and opened it, and was greeted by Cattleya.

"Oh, hi." I said, trying my best to hide the fact that I had the biggest hangover of my life at the moment. That tends to happen when you chug a bottle of wine, bottle and all, in a few seconds.

"Hello. I don't believe I ever caught your name." She says kindly.

"I-i'm Saito Hiraga."

She smiles. "What a lovely name." Second time I've ever been complimented on my name. Three guesses as to who gave me the compliment the first time.

_Huh, does Louise look and act like this when she grows up?_ It had been a while since I'd seen the Louise from my time and I couldn't remember exactly how she was.

"Louise will mellow out with age, but she probably won't get much taller." Cattleya says.

I forgot, she can read minds.

"No, I can't read minds."

"Really? Because you're not making a convincing argument for that point." I say, scared of her power.

She chuckles. "It's just written on your face. You looked like you were thinking if Louise would look like when she grew up, then you looked like you were terrified that I could read minds. But that's not why I'm here."

"May I ask why you're here?" I manage to calm myself down. Having someone read your mind, body language, or whatever is never pleasant.

"Father was not pleased about Louise wanting to go out on the front lines. She wants her placed under house arrest. Than he wants her to find a husband to calm her heart."

I try not to punch something. I should have know that's what this is, but the wine made me forget more than it should have. I silently pray that the wine-induced amnesia won't create any negative effects in the near future.

"I know you are not her lover, but I can tell you aren't very happy with that statement are you?" She asks me.

"Again, not making a good case against the 'I can't read minds' claim," I tell her.

She chuckles. "Anyway, I have prepared a carriage to take you back to the academy. It is at the front gates waiting for you. You'll find Louise hiding in a boat on the small lake we have in the backyard. She often went their to hide when she was little."

I nod. "Thank you Cattleya."

*Scene Break*

Ah, the lake. I had quite a few memories about this lake. Some good, Some terrifying. I approached the lake and saw the boat. In the middle was a blanket with a human shaped lump in it. I stepped in the boat and pulled the blanket off.

"Louise, it's time to go. Cattleya prepared a carriage for us to get out of here." I tell her.

"I don't want to." She mumbles.

"What?"

"There's no point. I can't tell my parents about void, they won't take me seriously, and my own father wants me to marry someone just because he doesn't want me going to the war. No one here acknowledges my existence." She pulls the blanket over her head again, but I rip it off her and throw it onto the pier.

"Look Louise, I acknowledge you. I know all you've done, and I know that you're going to do so much more for this world."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying!"

"Than let me ask you something. What do you want to fight for? Why are you fighting?" She asks me. _What? What made her want to ask that?_

"I'm fighting to protect my friends and those I love. I fighting to protect you." Okay, not the best reply I could have come up with, but I wasn't expecting this conversation to go this way.

She sits up and a blush is visible on her face. "Liar! Than why did you invite that maid to your room last night?"

"Siesta? She barged into my room drunk and then forced me to have some wine with her down my throat. I'm pretty sure I passed out after that. That's the last thing I remember from last night."

Louise glares at me. "Really? Because I sure didn't see any wine bottles around."

"Um... I'm pretty sure that's because she also shoved the bottle down my throat."

Louise looks at me blankly. "What?"

"Like I said, she was drunk. She said I should be to and shoved the bottle down my throat."

"T-then, she was lying?" She blushes a little more.

"I don't know what she told you, but it was most likely just something she said to provoke you. She was drunk after all."

Louise looks down, ashamed. My turn.

"Since we're on the topic, what are you fighting for?"

"Eh?" She doesn't look like she was expecting that question.

"Are you fighting for the princess? Maybe you're fighting for your honor. Maybe you're fighting for nobility, or to protect your lineage and pride?" I look at her seriously. "I ask again, what are you fighting for?"

"I-I'm fighting for... for..." She begins.

"On second thought, don't bother answering. If what you're fighting for is honor or noble pride, than I'd rather you not talk about it. Those things aren't worth dying for."

"NO! That's not it!" Louise's outburst shocks me, but I'm not backing down now. Never back down from an argument, it doesn't make a good impression.

"Than what is it? What are you fighting for?"

Louise looks down, and blushes. What? But why would she-

"I love you!"

_Eh? d-did I hear that right? WHAAAAAAT! _'I'm as surprised as you are! WHAAAAAT!'

"You want to now what I'm fighting for? It's to help you! If I don't fight to help you, no one will! I'm fighting for you because I love you!" She screams at me.

Realizing what she just said, Louise blushed such a furious shade of red, I'm worried that a vein snapped or something. There's silence for a solid minute. Louise is too embarrassed to speak, and I just don't know what to say. Last time it was the other way around.

"Louise, are you serious? You're not messing with me are you?" My face is a deep shade of red by this point.

Her head still hung low, she gives a small shake. "No, I'm serious."

Then, almost as unexpected, she buried her face in my chest and started crying, probably from embarrassment. I know I almost felt like crying when I accidentally confessed to her last time.

I pat her head and give her a hug.

"It's okay Louise, I know how you feel. I've been there."

"R-really?" She asks me through her tears.

"Yeah, last time I was the one telling you how I feel on this boat." I shudder when I remember what happened after that.

"Really? On this boat?" She seems almost bewildered that such a reversal of roles could happen.

"Yeah. Actually now that I think of it, not counting the contract this was the first time you and I kissed." I wince, I shouldn't have said that. _To reiterate an earlier statement of mine, YOU IDIOT!_ Thanks inner monologue, I wanted to be chastised by myself.

"W-w-what?" Louise grabs my shoulders and looks straight at me. "Details! I need details!"

"Okay fine! Anyway, as I said, I told you how I feel about you and... things happened. Things I would rather not go into."

She glares at me, unamused. "Those are not details."

I sigh. "Okay, okay. I came and found you in the boat, much like right now. We had a similar argument to the one just now, only I was the one who told you how I feel. Since I practically swore loyalty to you, you felt as though a reward for loyalty was necessary."

"Reward?" Louise looked a little confused.

I blushed. "You had this idea or 'rewarding' me when I did something good. I have reason to believe it was just an excuse to get to first base."

She blushed, "R-really?"

I nod, "Yeah. You said that since I pretty much swore loyalty, I should have a reward. I could touch one place I wanted." I blushed, remembering the event almost too vividly.

"And you went for a kiss?" she was blushing a very vivid shade of crimson. I reply by nodding.

Louise closes her eyes, lowers her head and looks deep in thought. I often wonder what goes on in that head of hers, but I never bothered to ask.

She looks at me, blushing, and says, "Y-you know. S-since you were so honest... A r-r-reward is n-needed, r-right?" Her voice was shaking.

"Eh?" before I have a chance to ask she means by that, Louise grabbed my neck and pressed her lips to mine.

My brain shorted out immediately after. I found myself unable to comprehend anything. All I felt was Louise's lips against mine, and then I had a thought. That single thought, a memory of what happens next, jolted me back to reality. I tried to pry Louise off of me, but I realized I had no strength left. I fell backwards, and Louise's lips never left mind. _Crapcrapcrapcrap. Louise's dad nearly killed you last time, and that was when you_ _pushed Louise down! When he sees this..._ This is not just the only thought keeping me connected to reality during this whole situation, its my only thought at all. If my inner monologue didn't keep repeating that thought to me, I would have given in a long time ago.

Then it gets worse. I feel something in my mouth, and I nearly die right there. I try to breathe, but realize my lungs no longer seem to work. 'Can't breathe... Louise's tongue... In throat... Blocking airways...' Finally, my resistance falters, and I give in. My eyes close for a split second, then the boat hits shore. My eyes shoot open and I see the duke and duchess, shocked beyond all measure at the scene before them. I push Louise off me, and she opens her eyes, startled. Then she looks behind her, and her eyes open wide in fear and surprise.

"..." is the sound of everyone's reactions. I gently step out of the boat and Louise does the same. We make an attempt to just walk off and pretend that never happened. Maybe that was asking too much.

"Stay where you are!" bellows the duke, and we freeze in place. "Hmmmm. Jerome, put Louise in the tower and make sure she stays there for at least a year. As for the commoner... I think beheading should be good. Then put him outside the manor as an example."

"Don't I get a say in this?" I ask hopefully.

"No," comes the reply I expected.

"Right. In that case," I grab Louise and throw her over my shoulder, and grab Deflinger, who's strapped to my back, with my other hand. I take advantage of the added speed to get out of that place as soon as possible. I run in the direction of the main gate, where Cattleya had the carriage set up. We were stopped by a drawbridge which was held up by a giant metal chain.

"Shit!" I figure I should spice things up instead of using my favorite word all the time.

Then before our eyes, well my eyes since Louise was slung over my shoulder, the chain became dirt and fell apart. Not pausing to wonder, I ran across the drawbridge and saw the carriage. Siesta was waving at us and she yelled at us to get in the carriage. I jumped in the carriage, set Louise down, and Siesta had the horses go as fast as they could. I didn't relax until we were far from Vallière territory. I looked over to Louise and saw that her face was a deep red and it looked like she was making a conscious effort to not look at me. I couldn't blame her.

*Louise POV*

I could have died of embarrassment right then and there. Not only did I tell him I love him, I kissed him! Then I got a little too "excited" and nearly lost my chastity, while my parents were watching! I silently prayed that I would never have to go back there. It would be too difficult to explain to them. "Why did I do that?" I couldn't help but wonder. I knew I loved him, but how could I lose control and be so bold? I blame Siesta's novels. I can't let that happen ever again. Not until after marriage anyway.


	11. Sacrifice

Author Notes:

To put myself down a little bit, I hate how I handled Saito's thoughts about the upcoming battle. As I kept writing, I noticed that I just kept writing him as whining about it nonstop. I toned it down a little, but I'm still not completely satisfied. Also, if you're wondering, this is the other action scene I put some effort into. There was no way I could skip the biggest battle in the series, so I sat down and started typing the scene. Then I realized it sucked so I deleted it and tried again. Rinse and repeat about 23 more times. Read, review, leave feedback, and enjoy the story!

11: Sacrifice

Louise and I were sent on a few missions for the Tristain army. Most of them involved using Louise's new void spell, illusion, to trick the Albion army into retreating. These spells were usually large and definitely took their toll on Louise.

Speaking of whom, I had been doing my best to avoid her for two reasons. First was because of the boat incident. If I tried to talk about it, I know that only awkwardness would ensue. I really just tried to forget about the whole incident. Maybe Louise had another potion, or was drunk? I just couldn't see her doing something like that the way she usually was. The very thought of it almost scared me.

Second was Saxe-Gotha. The army of 70,000 would invade, I'd drug Louise to keep her from going, then I'd fight and die. It wasn't something I was looking forward too, and I was deep in thought about it almost every day. I was mostly trying to think of a way to break it to Louise without worrying her. Last time, Montmorency told me that Louise nearly killed herself out of despair. I needed to come up with a way of avoiding that.

The whole ordeal depressed me to no end. People started to take notice and asked what was wrong. I just put on a brave face, lied through my teeth, and changed the subject. Louise actually tried to ask me what was wrong. I told her nothing was wrong and continued about my business. I couldn't tell her. Not yet. I just didn't know how. I did, however, thank her for her concern about my well being.

*Scene Break*

It had been a few weeks since the homecoming. Missions continued as usual, and we even got to see Julio! I hate that guy. He's like if someone fused Wardes and Guiche back when he was a snobbish jerk. I kept as far away from him as possible.

It was the week of the Advent Festival. A truce had been called for the celebration, and everyone was happy for it. I stayed in my emo state of mind. The fact that this would only end in death made the whole cheerful event seem downright cruel. I decided I desperately needed a drink. Maybe a nice several bottles of wine could get my mind off of everything. I headed towards the nearest bar and took a seat.

"Saito?" I turn at the sound of my name and see Guiche.

"Guiche! What are you doing here?" I ask him, trying to sound happier than I really am. To be honest, seeing a friendly, familiar face really did wonders for my mood.

"I am enlisted as one of the soldiers for the army! I have already helped win several battles and have even won a medal!" He said, showing the medal that hung from his chest. "Siesta's around here too somewhere," he said looking around. As he said that, she popped out from behind some people and ran up to me.

"Saito!" she said, hugging me almost to death.

Then two more familiar faces pop up. One was a girl who looked a little like Siesta, but was taller and she went by the name of Jessica. The other was Scarron. I really don't want to describe him in detail.

Jessica and Scarron were Siesta's cousin and uncle, respectively. They ran an inn back in Tristain that Louise and I stayed at for a bit when on a mission to gather information for the princess. The two of them were really nice people who helped us get some of the information we needed. Seeing them here actually did help my mood a bit.

"Saito!" cried Jessica, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm helping out the army. Louise is here too. She decided to stay back at the room we have though." I told them.

"Why don't you go get her and bring her here? I'd love to see little Louise again!" says Scarron.

I ponder for a moment, then nod. "That sounds good. You guys wait here, I'll be back in a minute." I stand up, and head for the inn.

*Scene Break*

I got back to the inn we were staying at, and was about to open the door when a feeling of dread came over me. I remember something really horrible happening on the other side of this door. I just couldn't remember what. I ignore my instincts and open the door. And I'm immediately greeted by the sight of Louise, dressed up in a fur bikini and wearing cat ears and a tail.

She looks at me embarrassed and says, "Saito's been feeling depressed, so to cheer you up, for today, I'll be your familiar."

_Oh, _is my inner monologue's clever response. The sight in front of me is too adorable to bear. My nose starts bleeding, and I pass out right then and there.

I wake up on the bed with Louise looking at me worried, thankfully she's wearing actual clothes now.

"Well, here we are again," I mutter while I sit up.

"S-sorry. I might have overdone it." Louise says while blushing. I make a mental note to give that sentence the understatement of the eternity award later.

"Now, please tell me someone persuaded you to do that and you didn't come up with that of your own accord." I say pleadingly.

She nods. "You're sword gives stupid advice. I asked him if he knew why you were looking so down and he didn't know. I asked him if he knew anyway to cheer you up and he suggested this. I still don't know why I agreed."

"Well, thanks for the effort. I actually do feel a lot better now that some of the pressure's off. Oh! Scarron, Jessica, Siesta and Guiche are waiting at that bar down the street. You should go meet them." I tell her.

She perks up at that. "Really?"

"Yep. You should go talk to them. If you don't mind, I think I'll get some rest here."

She nods and heads out the door.

"Hey Louise?"

She turns around.

"Just to let you know, you looked absolutely adorable in that cat costume." I tell her.

Her face is a mix of anger, embarrassment and happiness, for some odd reason. She closes the door behind her. I wait a bit to make sure she's gone. I head over to the desk in the room, grab a piece of paper and start writing. I write down just what exactly is making me depressed and what to do. I put it in my pocket planning on giving it to Louise later. After I give her the sleeping potion or course.

_You might want to try a different draft. This one seems a bit too cryptic. _'Yeah, but I don't know if i'm going to survive. For all I know Tiffania's already used up her magic healing ring.' _You don't know that. _'Which is exactly why I wrote the letter the way I did.'

I sleep in the bed for a while and after some time, Louise comes back.

"How'd it go?" I ask her, turning over so I can see her. Her face is a little red, and she sways a little when she moves. I guess she had a few drinks with them.

"Good," she hands me a small brown box. "Siesta said give that to you. She said you'd know what to do with it." I open the box, and inside is the vial of sleeping potion I'd been counting on. I stuff the vial in my pocket for later and throw the box into a corner. Louise notices how late it actually is, strips down to just her panties, throws her clothes into the far corner of the room and crawls into bed.

"Louise, any particular reason you aren't wearing your night clothes?" I ask, trying not to think of how Louise is right next to me wearing only her panties. I already had one near death nasal explosion today, I didn't need another one, especially not on the bed.

"It's too hoooot." I guess she had a few too many drinks considering it was snowing outside. _I bet your really happy now, eh Saito? _'Shut up.'

"Saito, can I ask a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Why you so depressed recently?" Apparently the alcohol has taken away her ability to form simple sentences correctly.

"That depends, how drunk are you?" If she was really drunk, I could tell her the meaning of life and she would forget about it in a few minutes.

"Pretty drunk." _Clearly_.

"Fine, this war has just been depressing me." I don't take the chance that she's only tipsy and knows my plan, "People are just fighting and dying and nothing is getting better, only worse. The whole concept of wars just depresses me." That part's the absolute truth.

Louise snuggles up to me and wraps her arm around me. I'm not going to have to repeat what I did during the potion incident am I?

"I don't like it when your depressed. You don't seem you when you're like this. Get better soon," then she falls asleep.

I think about what she said and it almost depresses me even more. Get better soon. Yeah, dying makes everyone feel better_._ Still, I can't deny how happy it makes me feel that Louise really seems to worry about me. Eventually, despite my thoughts about the war, I fall asleep.

*Scene Break*

Louise was treated to quite a sight when she woke up. She was in nothing but her panties with her arms wrapped around me. Again. _You just love forcing Louise into situations like this, don't you? _'Never once has it been through my actions that she decided to do this!' My inner monologue is really annoying at times.

"W-what do you think you're doing!" She kicks me, waking me up, and I fall off the bed.

"This one, I can actually explain." I tell her nervously. Nothing like a solid kick to the back to start your morning. I get up and stretch out my back to make sure nothing's broken before turning to her. Luckily, she's already managed to get dressed. Great job Louise, record time.

"You see, after I told you to go see Guiche, Siesta and everyone, you came home rather drunk. I do mean drunk."

She blushes. "I d-don't remember much of last night. I guess I did have a few to many drinks at the bar with them." She hangs her head in shame.

"It happens to everyone. Anyway, if I were you, and you knew what I knew, I'd be more worried about tonight." I probably shouldn't even tell her this, but she needs something to take her mind off of the cat costume and the hangover.

"What do you mean?" Apparently the people of this world all share the remarkable ability to sober up instantly after something catches their interest. I tuck that information away for later use.

"Well, without spoiling too much, this war's almost over. Tonight's the final nail in the coffin." MY coffin to be exact, but I don't bother telling her. _Why are you so depressed about this?_ My inner monologue asks me. _Yeah, you die, but it's not like it's permanent._ Maybe not, but it still hurts me and everyone I know.

Louise perks up at the news that the war's almost over. Finally we can have some peace and her familiar can stop being so depressed!

"Really?"

"Yeah, but it's not a pretty end. Not at all."

She doesn't look happy about that, but she definitely seems ecstatic at the news that the war is nearly through.

"Well," she begins, "Since we don't have anything to do today, want to go out on the town?"

I blink. Did Louise just ask me on a date? I mean it's happened before, but it's still quite shocking.

I smile at her, "Of course I would."

*Scene Break*

The date was wonderful. Louise was dressed in a black dress with a matching black beret. She looked absolutely adorable in it. The plan for today was to forget all about the war and enjoy ourselves at the advent festival.

We visited all the game booths, looked at all the shopping areas, and even went and saw a play. I got a little bored and fell asleep halfway through so I don't remember much. When I woke up, Louise was asleep and leaning against my shoulder so I guess she didn't think to highly of it either.

Basically, it was a fun, normal date. Almost nothing could have made the day bad. Emphasis on almost.

*Scene Break*

It started a few hours after lunch. After drinking some water from the wells, soldiers went crazy and started attacking the villagers. Panic, riots and violence were everywhere, it was complete chaos.

When I first saw signs of the outbreak, I grabbed Louise by her arm and led her away. I made my destination the shipping port near the church. There weren't any wells near there so it should be safe. When we got there, we both sat down to catch our breath.

"Saito, what's going on?" Louise asks me, the fear in her voice obvious.

I decide to respond honestly. No point hiding anything now is there? "They're being mind controlled. A parasite in the water if I remember correctly."

Before Louise can respond, an owl flies in and gives her a letter. She opens it, read through it, and her face becomes deadly serious. I knew this was going to happen.

"Louise, what's in that letter?"

"Albion broke the treaty. They're sending an army of 70,000 over here, where most of our army is stationed." Every word she says hits me in the gut as I remember last time. I just can't get past this battle can I? "They want me to go to a hill and use my magic to slow them down. Retreat is not an option."

"You're going to do it, aren't you?" I ask her sadly. She nods her head.

"They just gave you suicidal orders!" I scream at her. This whole war thing has really given me some built up rage, so I guess that's what I'm releasing now. "You're just going to go there and die? What about everyone? What about all our friends? What are they going to do when you're dead?"

Louise's eyes start to water a little bit. "What will happen if I don't stall them? If I don't do anything, they will all die! Do you want that? Do you want them to die so I can live?" Tears start pouring down her eyes.

I sigh, this is an argument I already know I can't win. "I guess you're right." I grab a bottle of wine from one of the shipping crates near by. "Than let's have one last drink. It's a tradition in my world to have a last drink with someone before separating. Think of it as my last request to you."

She looks to her left at the church, blushes and looks down again. "T-then I have a request as well."

I try to remember what her request was, but no such luck. With everything that's happened so far can you really blame me for forgetting a minor detail like that?

"Go ahead, what's your request?"

"W-would you marry me?" I nearly drop the bottle right then and there. _So much for a minor detail._

"R-right! It would definitely suck to die before getting married, even if I am the only one available."

She shakes her head. "No, I really do want to marry you. Not just because there's no one else here." Then I do drop the bottle. Luckily the thing's pretty sturdy so it doesn't even crack. _Well she's convinced she's going to die. No point in her hiding anything, is there?_ I pick the bottle up, my brain still reeling.

"S-sure. Whatever you want."

*Scene Break*

Now I remember. This was her request last time as well. It was as shocking then as it was know. I pour the wine into the two glasses near the alter. I look over and see Louise kneeling near a statue of Brimir, praying. I reach into my pocket, take out the bottle Siesta gave me, and pour the contents into one of the glasses. _Let's hope this stuff works._

Louise finishes up and walks back over to me.

I clear my throat in an attempt to also try to clear away my nervousness. I doesn't work. I hand Louise the glass with the potion in it, and I take my own glass. We both down the wine in a few seconds, and set the glasses on the table. Now I just had to buy time.

"So, how does this work? Do we just hold hands, say a vow, kiss and be done with it?"

Louise blushes. "I-I don't know. That sounds good enough though." She grabs a hold of my hand.

"Louise, I love you, and I'm glad I met you. That's why It's even worse having to got through with this again."

Louise blushes, "I'm glad I met you too. I didn't like you at first, you were just some commoner. But now, I wouldn't have picked any other familiar. Saito?"

"Yes?"

"I-I lo-"

Then the potion takes affect. _Perfect timing, as always._ She collapses and I grab her before she hits the ground. I take my note to her from my pocket and place it in her shirt pocket. I give her one last kiss goodbye before picking her up and walking out of the chapel, fighting back tears at having to relieve this moment. It sucked enough the first time, having to do it over again was like reopening an old wound with the intent of pouring salt in it.

"Saito?" I see Guiche once I step out of the chapel.

"Thank god it's you and not Julio." There are not enough words to describe how much I hate Julio, so I'm really glad it's Guiche that shows up instead.

"Why's Louise asleep? Shouldn't she be going to stall the army?" he seems both confused and worried.

I hand Louise over to him. "Get her on the ship. Make sure she escapes."

"What about you?" Now he just sounds worried.

"I'm off to entertain an army." I tell him, before marching off towards the hill where the battle will begin.

Then I remember something. "Oh, and Guiche?"

"Yes, Saito?"

"Tell Louise to check her pockets when she wakes up."

He nods, and I continue marching.

*Scene Break*

I reach the hill that serves as my starting point. I sit down, draw Derflinger and place him next to me.

"Derflinger?"

"Yes partner?"

"This is going to suck, isn't it?"

He chuckles "Not going to lie, yes it is. Remember this partner, you volunteered. You could have escaped and been done with it, but you volunteered."

"It was either her or me, and I'm not letting her die."

"Heh, wise words partner. Be on your guard, looks like the army's coming."

I look forward and sure enough, he's right. All 70,000 are marching towards me. This is going to be fun.

"Hey Derf, see if you can remember any useful abilities that might help us out."

"No guarantees, but I'll try."

I smile and grab Derflinger. Then I charge straight towards the 70,000.

It was easy at first, they were too surprised by the fact that there was only one person, and that my speed was so incredible. I jumped right into the fray and began slashing. I aimed for the arms or legs while slashing. I didn't want to kill anyone, I just needed to slow them down long enough for everyone to escape. The army did most of my work for me, friendly fire and all.

I run towards one soldier, drop to my knees and give a quick slice. I was aiming for his stomach, but was a little too low. Oh well, you only need one to have kids right? He falls to his knees and I use his head like a springboard to gain some height. I land on top of one guy whose buddy tries to hit me with his axe. I dodge, but the axe grazes my arm.

Then the mages start firing. I use Derflinger to absorb most of the spells but he can't absorb them all. My right arm gets hit by a fireball and instantly is in great pain. I charge a line of mages and they fire some more fire at me. I absorb enough to only get singed and use Derflinger to break the wands. I notice a hail of arrows coming for me and I try to dodge back, but there are a lot of arrows. I use my Gandalfar speed to move Derflinger to block the arrows, but a few still get past. One grazes my left shoulder, another implants itself in my other shoulder. I pull it out and continue fighting.

Arrows, spells and blades keep coming, and I try to fend them all off. However I'm definitely near my end. I can already feel the injuries catching up and my consciousness slipping away. I see the Commander of the platoon and decide to at least take him out, throw everyone into confusion. I leap towards him and slice, aiming at his neck. Derflinger is about to make contact with his neck, and then I black out.

*Louise POV*

When I woke up I was on a boat. I looked around and saw some townsfolk and people who looked like soldiers. "We must be escaping Albion," I thought to myself. "Wait, I need to stall the army!"

"Ah! You're awake, Louise." I turned and saw Guiche with Siesta, Scarron and Jessica.

"What am I doing here? I need to be back there holding off the army!" I turned around with the intent of running and heading back to hold off the enemy, but Guiche put a hand on my shoulder.

"Let me answer your question, with a question. Where's Saito?" Guiche asked, his voice sounding sad.

My face paled when I realized what he was implying.

Siesta gasped and put her hands to her mouth. "L-Louise, you don't know where Saito is?"

I already knew, and my eyes got watery, but I wanted, no NEEDED, confirmation. "Guiche, where is Saito?" I wasn't angry, or even worried. I was just scared.

"He put you to sleep and put you in my care to make sure you escaped safely while he went off to delay the approaching army." Guiche looked down, saddened.

I fell to my knees and tears began to fall. "No. No! No! He didn't! He wouldn't! That means..."

"I'm sorry Louise, he's probably already gone."

My tears went from a light rain to a steady flow of water in that moment. I ran to the edge of the ship and grabbed onto the railing. "Saito! Saito!"

I tried to jump over the railing, but Scarron grabbed me.

"Let me go! I'm going to help Saito!" I continued yelling at them and crying. Eventually, my energy gone, I slumped onto my knees. Guiche and Scarron were the only ones there. Siesta ran off after Guiche said that Saito was most likely dead, and Jessica chased after her.

"One last thing," Guiche said, trying to console me, "he asked me to tell you to check your pockets."

The only thing I did to acknowledge that I heard him was to reach into my shirt pocket. I pulled out a piece of paper and looked at it. Eventually, tears began to run again. Guiche and Scarron decided it would be better for me to be by myself for a while. Clutching the letter to my chest, I laid down on the floor and went to sleep, desperately wishing for the day Saito would return to me.


	12. Depression

Author Notes:

This and the next chapter are probably my favorite chapters that I've written. I wrote these two chapters and found that I really liked writing things from Louise's perspective. After I finished these chapters I went back and added the Louise POVs to the end of the chapters to satiate my sick need for excuses to write from Louise's perspective.

If you're wondering why I wrote from Louise's perspective for these two chapters, its quite simple. The novels focused more on Saito during this period, which I was a little disappointed in. I found the chapters about Louise dealing with Saito's possible death to be much more interesting, so I borrowed from that and wrote from Louise's perspective.

Last thing, the paragraphs in the middle and end are from an early draft. The Louise POVs were originally just that, italic paragraphs that talked about Louise in third person. Like I said, writing these chapters made me go back and fix them up and add some more details. I left these the way they are because I didn't want to bounce back and forth between the two perspectives for this part. Consider these chapters a bathroom break and come back at chapter 14 if you're only reading this story to hear Saito bicker with his inner monologue.

12: Depression

"Dear Louise, since you're reading this, you're alive and well, and I'm most likely dead. I mixed in the sleeping potion Siesta gave me with your wine so I could get you to safety, while I took on the army of 70,000. No matter what happens, or what anyone says, do NOT cast summon servant. It won't prove anything. I'd like to say more, but now is not the time. In about a month, head to Saxe-Gotha and track down an orphanage run by a blond haired woman. She will be able to explain in more detail. Goodbye Louise, I love you."

I reread the note to myself. It was written in Saito's language, so I was the only one who could. It had been close to two week since Saito stalled the army at Saxe-Gotha. Since then, I had rarely left my room. Unless it was to get food, take a bath or anything like that, I never left my bed, much less my room. I couldn't stop thinking of how Saito went and got himself killed to protect me. _Why? Why didn't he just go and live his life?_ I already knew the answer.

I kept trying to convince myself that he was still alive, that he had some kind of escape plan. Maybe he stole a ship, maybe he ran off in the middle of the battle, maybe he pretended to be dead so he could sneak off. Saito just wasn't the kind of person to do something like this without some kind of escape plan.

I just wasn't ready to believe them. I met with as many generals as I could, and begged them to turn around. No matter who I talked too, every one of them agreed that no single person would have dared gone up against the army. One person said that even if he went there, he would already be dead. I kicked him in the shin and ran off.

Someone knocked on my door.

"Louise?" it was Montmoreny and Guiche. I didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment.

"Louise, you haven't left this room in days. People are starting to worry." Montmorency says.

"I've left."

"To get food and go to the bathroom. You need to get out more. Yes, Saito was a good man, but he's probably gone now." Says Guiche.

"No. He's not gone." I refuse to believe it. "And I can prove it. I get up and grab my wand.

"Summon servant?"

I nod my head. In my desperate attempt to prove he's alive, I forgot that his note said not to cast summon servant. Or maybe I just didn't care. I needed to know if he was alive.

"Louise, you might want to prepare yourself. If the gate opens..." Montmorency's voice trails off. I know what she's talking about, and it worries me. If the gate opens, then Saito's really...

I raise my wand and begin the incantation. Montmorency covers her eyes and turns away. Guiche looks terrified as well. I finish and bring down my wand.

The gate opens.

I stare at the gate. I can't move, and my brain shuts down while I just stare. I hear a voice shout, "Shut the gate!" I react, and the gate is shut. I fall to my knees and I feel tears coming from my eyes.

I hear Guiche say something but I can't make it out. I hear footsteps and then my door shuts. I lay down on my side and continue crying.

*Elsewhere*

_Saito was dreaming. In his dream, he and Louise made it to Japan, and Louise became a famous pop idol, then he was woken by a bright light. He looked around, but saw nothing like that light._

_He shook his head. "Louise, I told you not to cast that spell, didn't I?"_

_He gets up, grabs Derflinger, and goes back to training his sword skills, worried about what Louise will do next._

*Back at the academy*

It had been about another week since the gate opened, and I never left my room. I just lied in my bed and slept as much as possible. I slept because I could only ever see Saito in my dreams. When I couldn't sleep, I drank. Eventually I would pass out and enter the dreamworld again. A part of my brain knew that he was gone, and I'd never see him again. The rest of my brain simply refused to listen to reason.

All of my dreams involved Saito in some way, and he was always much more gentle then he was in real life. That's how I knew they were dreams, but I didn't care. He was there with me. _God,_ I thought to myself, _I sound like such a sap._

The dream I was currently happening was probably one of my best. Saito and I were sitting on top the artillery tower, the tallest tower at the academy. We were just sitting and looking at the stars.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it Louise?"

I nodded, "Yes, it is a nice night out." When I recall the dreams, I always wince at how stupid I sound. Throughout the course of my dreams during those weeks, I had hit every romance cliché ever. I blame the alcohol.

Saito turned to me, "Not as beautiful as you, My Louise."

I blushed, "I-idiot! What's with that all of a sudden?"

Saito moves closer and pulls me into a hug. I don't even bother trying to hide how happy that makes me.

"I love you, Louise."

"I-I love you too." I really need to learn how to dream with better dialogue. That's the best my mind can come up with? I feel a breeze and realize I'm wearing the cat costume again. I instinctively try to cover myself, but Saito stops me.

"Its fine, isn't it? After all, you did wear those for me, didn't you?" He says while undoing the top of the costume.

I should be embarrassed, I should be kicking, screaming, yelling, but I don't. I let him continue. When he succeeds in taking it off, I blush and try to cover myself. Then he kisses me and I lose my strength, and I wrap my arms around him. Then I wake up.

I look around my room for Saito, but of course he's not there. I feel an odd mix of embarrassment and disappointment.

"Now I just feel cheated." I mutter to myself, embarrassment of the dream begins to take over the disappointment. "Maybe, I should go for a walk, clear my mind and think about things." I don't even know who I'm talking too, but it calms me to at least speak. I have a feeling that someone's listening, though I don't know who.

Before I know it, without even bothering to dress properly, I walk out my door, I don't even have a destination in mind, I just keep walking.

*Scene Break*

Without even realizing what I'm doing, I find myself at the top of the artillery tower.

"This is where my last dream was." When I'm depressed, talking to myself and stating the obvious tends to calm me down for some reason.

I look up at the sky and feel my legs getting weak, so I sit down.

"Louise! No! You can't!" I turn and see Siesta behind me.

"Can't? Can't do what?" I'm confused beyond measure. What business could I possibly have at the top of the tallest tower... oh.

"Siesta, I'm not committing suicide."

Siesta gives a confused look. "Than why are you here?"

I shrug, "I just wanted to come up here to calm myself down a little." I tell her. I leave out the part about the dream, no point in giving her that kind of information.

Siesta looks immensely relieved. "Thank goodness. I saw you coming up here. I heard about the summon servant spell and I thought that... well, you know."

I look back at the sky and smile to myself. "I'm not going to kill myself over that. Besides, why would I kill myself over him when I know he's still alive?" I don't know why, but his note gave me the feeling that he wasn't telling me something important, just like everything he says. I know he's hiding something and, dead or alive, I'm dragging it out of him.

"That's right! I refuse to believe he's dead! Not unless I see it with my own eyes!" Siesta says happily.

I'm relieved. I'm not the only person who believes in Saito. I turn to Siesta again, "Want to go find him?"

Siesta looks shocked, but I continue, "He was last seen around Saxe-Gotha, So I say we head there and question everyone we see until we find him!" I stand up for added effect, and Siesta jumps up and down with joy.

"Yes! I'd love to!" Then everything goes downhill.

Siesta lands on her dress and manages to trip. I try to catch her, but she plows into me, sending both of us over the edge into open air. _Well, if Saito really is dead, I guess I'm going to find out in a few moments._ I close my eyes and tears start to... fall, I guess. The impact comes sooner than expected, and is a lot softer than I expected. I open my eyes and see Guiche and Montmorency standing over me and Siesta, a mixture of confusion and worry on their face.

"What were you doing falling through the air?" I can tell by her voice Montmorency has already assumed the worse.

"My statue! You landed on my statue of Saito!" Guiche says. I get up, dust myself off, and look around where I landed. Sure enough, a lump of dirt that looks a lot like Saito's head is around where we landed.

"Montmorency, I was at the top of the tower because I wanted to look at the skyline. Siesta came up too, thinking the worse. She tripped and sent both of us over the edge on accident," I tell her before turning to Guiche, "Guiche, Your statute of Saito just saved out lives, so no hard feelings. Besides there's no point in a memorial if someone's not dead, right?" Saito's calm way of addressing people and stopping them stone cold with logic was starting to rub off on me.

Guiche and Montmorency both gasp. "B-but the summon servant-" Montmorency begins.

"I don't care, He's alive, I know it. Tomorrow, me and Siesta are going to Albion to find him dead or alive."

Montmorency looks shocked at my suggestion, but Guiche nods his head. "Indeed, I would very much like it if he wasn't dead. He was a very skilled swordsman, and I wouldn't hesitate to call him a friend," Guiche looks me straight in the eye with a seriousness unlike him, "Go. Find Saito and bring him here. I'm sure everyone will be happy to see him."

"H-how can you all be sure he's alive?" Montmorency still doesn't believe us, and I don't blame her.

"It's called trust. I trust him because he's my familiar, and Guiche trusts him as a friend. Because of this trust, we both know he's not dead." I tell her coldly.

"Hey! What about me?" Siesta asks, angry that I left her out.

I shrug, another trait Saito seems dead set on passing on to me, "To be honest, I don't know the relationship between you two that well, so I don't really know."

Montmorency still looks like she thinks we're crazy, but then I can almost see something in her mind click. "Your probably right. If all three of you agree that he isn't dead, than there's no way he can be dead." She focuses her gaze on Siesta and me, "I can tell no matter what anyone says or shows you, you won't back down from this. Go, find Saito."

I smile, "Thank you." I turn to Siesta, "Pack you bags, tomorrow we head for Albion to find Saito."

I silently swear to myself that no matter what happens I will find Saito. I will search the entire planet if I need too until I find him. And when I do, I'm going to hit him so hard that he'll never do anything to worry me like this ever again.

_Saito sighed to himself in relief. "About time she got going. I thought she had forgotten."_

"_Partner, how do you know she's coming?" Derflinger asked._

"_I can see through her left eye and she's packing for what looks like a long trip. Just a little longer until she arrives. I better start thinking about how I'm going to explain this to her. It would suck to reunite with her than get killed because I couldn't come up with a good reason for not heading back as soon as I was better."_

"_Best get to it partner. I doubt you'd want to die because of that girl a third time."_


	13. Reunion

Author Notes:

One thing I forgot to mention last time was Louise's dreams. There was a brief moment in the light novels, and a few times in the anime, where we got to peer into Louise's dreams, and I thought they were hilarious so I wrote it in. They'll make another appearance somewhere down the line, so don't worry. Also, a line Louise has near the end about thinking she had a dream like this is from the first version of the dream I wrote. Originally the scene at the end paralleled the dream Louise had last chapter, but I rewrote that dream to have cat costume Louise (for story related purposes I assure you) so I had to change that line of dialogue. Read, review, leave feedback, and enjoy the story!

13: Reunion

"Come on Louise! Pick up the pace! The city's not getting up and walking towards you!"

"Shut up! I'm not used to carrying all this stuff for so long!"

Siesta was at least 20 feet ahead of me, and still hadn't broken a sweat, despite her baggage being three times as much as I was carrying, while I was practically crawling. Siesta and I had just arrived on Albion a week ago and were currently hiking towards Saxe-Gotha. We were hiking because we had packed to much stuff for a horse to carry so we had to rough it. I was near death from it, but Siesta kept marching on. I silently curse her country upbringing for her inhuman strength.

"Quit your complaining. We're here!"

I perk up immediately. I rush over to her and look at the sight in front of me. Saxe-Gotha, where Saito held back 70,000 to protect me and allow to army to retreat. It's fairly early, so there aren't a lot of people walking around, but there are enough to ask around.

*Scene Break*

The sun was starting to set, and we didn't have anything. No one we asked had seen Saito, or even heard of him. We decided to call it a night and head back to the inn we were going to stay at when I saw something near the forest.

That something was a familiar shade of blue. I rushed over to investigate and my heart nearly stoped. What I saw was Saito's parka on a stone. A stone that looks an awful lot like...

"A grave stone." Siesta says. There are some words written on the stone but I don't bother to read them. I pick up Saito's parka and examine it. It's not a duplicate. It's definitely his parka. I hug the parka close to me, and I close my eyes. I hear footsteps, so I assume that Siesta gave me a minute to myself.

The parka close to me, I start crying again. I don't even care who sees, all my emotions just flood out at that instant. I try to stop the tears, but they keep coming.

"Excuse me, are you lost?" I hear a voice say.

I turn to towards the voice and my jaw almost drops. She has long blonde hair that comes out from under her large hat. She's a bit tall and rather slim except for THEM. Her bust can't be natural, there's no way.

"Are you lost?" She asks again.

"N-no. I'm just looking for a place to stay, I guess." I really don't know what I'm looking for at this point.

"Well, have some room at the orphanage I run, would you like to stay there for a night? Your maid friend told me you'd be here, she's going to stay there for a bit."

Something about her seems familiar to me. I nod my head. "Sure. You mind if I just go for a little walk around the forest? It's been a long day and I need to think."

She nods like she understands, before turning around and heading into the forest. I take my own path, deeper into the forest, no destination planned, I just need to walk for a bit and clear my head.

*Scene Break*

After a while of aimlessly wandering through the forest, I reach a clearing. I sit down in the approximate middle of the clearing and think about the position I'm in. Before I can even begin to think about anything, I hear obviously evil laughter and stand up, alert.

"Ah, honorable void mage, how do you do?" asks a female voice from somewhere in the trees.

"W-what? Who are you? How do you know about the void?" I find myself wishing Saito were here, he'd probably know.

I see a women walk out from behind some trees.

"Names aren't important right now, call me Myoznitnirn. As for how I now about your void magic, it's because like that boy you had once, I too am a void familiar!" to prove her point she lifts up her bangs, and I see Saito's ruins sketched across her forehead.

I try not to gasp, another void user and familiar? If Saito was Gandalfar and had control over weaponry, what could Myoznitnirn possibly have?

"Since you don't have your familiar to translate this information," It takes all my willpower not to break down at that remark, "I'll tell you. As Myoznitnirn, the mind of god, I have control over all magical artifacts, despite not being a mage!"

I gasp. To prove her point, she snaps her fingers and a swarm of alviss appear out of nowhere. They all swarm me. I pull out my wand and cast rapid explosions to try and fend off the swarm.

"Saito..." I mutter to myself, wishing he was here to help me. _Give it up! He's dead! You saw the grave. There's no one left to help you! _Then something snaps. Saying nothing I raise my wand, and begin the incantation,

"In the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers! Following my fate, summon a familiar!" I aim at the ground, and the summoning gate appears. _He'll come. I know he will, because he said he'd protect me._

The gate starts to ripple, and someone steps out of the gate.

"Saito..." I mutter to myself, my eyes beginning to water.

He looks around and surveys the situation. He looks at the women dressed in purple. "Myoznitnirn?" he asks.

"Ah, Gandalfar! You're alive after all! Such an honor to be recognized."

Saito shakes his head, "Sorry, I'm not Gandalfar."

This statement confuses me, but I realize what he means, and several things suddenly make sense. He shows Myoz his left hand, now clean of runes, and she looks disappointed.

"Such a shame, and I thought this was going to be fun. Oh well. Alviss, attack!"

Saito readies his sword, but I'm quicker, after I got over the shock of seeing Saito, I began silently chanting dispel. As soon as Myoz finishes talking, I release the spell, and all of the alviss fall down, the magic gone. I made sure to hit her with the blast so anything she was carrying is now useless. She stares at me, stunned that I had thought of something so devious, before turning and running away.

Saito looks at me, "Where'd you come up with a strategy like that?"

I shrug, "I guess you're rubbing off on me."

He laughs, "I guess I am. Now let's head back to Tifa's orphanage."

*Scene Break*

After we got back to the hut and Saito and I reformed the contract, we all exchanged Stories about what we were doing here. Saito woke up here after the battle, thanks to Tiffania, the girl who offered to let my stay at the orphanage, healing him after she found him dead in the woods using a ring her mother gave to her. He explained how he had to stay here for a while to rest, recover, and protect the orphanage from any robbers.

Agnis, the princess's captain of the gun squad, was sent out to find Saito, dead or alive. She hadn't expected to find him in the first town she visited, so she had some free time. She used that time to train Saito at swordplay, now that he wasn't Gandalfar.

I explained that Siesta and I had come to find Saito and bring him back. After introductions were over, Saito and I explained that another familiar of void attacked me, and Saito came in and saved me. They were all shocked at the existence of another void mage.

Saito held up a hand, signaling that we should all silence ourselves for a moment, and turned to Tiffania. "Tiffania, before we go on, don't you think we should at least tell them what you are?"

Tiffania pales, looks terrified and quickly shakes her head. "No! What if they get scared of me and hate me." I want to just give her a hug and tell her everything's going to be okay, but I resist the urge.

"I don't intend to hate anyone who shows no malice, and you haven't shown any," says Agnis.

"Yeah! You helped Saito, so you can't be bad!" says Siesta.

I nod in agreement, "If Saito trusts you, then so do I."

Tiffania gives a shy smile and removes her hat, revealing long, pointy ears.

I try to suppress my surprise. "You're an elf?"

"Half, my mother was and elf, my father was human." She looks like she's scared that we'll hate her now that we know she's an elf. I don't blame her; elf/human relations have never been the best.

Than Saito cuts in, "Also, just to let everyone present know, Tiffania doesn't know any ancient magic, She knows one spell," He turns to me, "and it's a void spell."

"What? So Tiffania's a-"

"Important character to the plot? Yes. Tiffania is a void mage. One time, some bandits tried to rob the orphanage. I hadn't recovered to a point where I could be of much use, and Agnis hadn't showed up yet. Tiffania used a spell to wipe them of their memories and send them off."

There was complete silence. Tiffania was not a person who liked having all the attention, but she nodded, confirming the story. She looked like she was trying to disappear.

Eventually, Agnis stood up. "Well, it's been a long day, so I think I'll go get some sleep." Her tone of voice sounded like she was trying to indicate something to everyone. She turned, grabbed Saito's sword, and left the room.

Siesta stood up next, "R-right! I'll go see if their's anything I can use for breakfast tomorrow!" she ran out like a bullet. Tiffania just looked around embarrassed and left the room.

Saito sits down next to me on the bed and I realized what they wanted, they want to give me and Saito a minute alone. As soon as I realized this, I looked at Saito, and then I started to cry.

_PAK!_

Saito just stares at me and rubs the spot on his cheek where I just slapped him.

"Why do you always make me worry like this?" I ask as I grab onto him and sob into his chest. He puts his arms around me and gives me a reassuring pat on the head.

"D-d-do you what I w-was going through? I th-th-thought I'd never see you again!"

"I know Louise," he tells me gently, "I'm sorry." He may not be as gentle as in my dreams, but it was more than enough for me.

"I kept waking up and you were always missing! On the ship, at the academy, in my room…" A wave of tears comes over me again, and I can't form words anymore.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry."

I continue sobbing into his chest. "Don't leave me ever again. You make me worry too much," I tell him.

"I won't Louise. Not now, not ever."

I smile, and a feeling comes over me. Without realizing it, I press my lips to his. He seems shocked at first, but gives in. All strength leaves my body as I collapse against him, pushing him onto the bed. We stay like that for a little longer, and I roll off him to his right. I look at him again, and my mind is made up.

"S-s-s-saito?" My mind almost can't believe what I'm going to say.

"Yes Louise?"

"I-I-it's rather h-hot out, d-don't you t-think?" My face is a furious shade of red, and Saito's isn't that far behind.

"I-I guess it is rather hot, yeah."

"W-well, w-would you m-mind helping me out of these c-clothes and into to something n-nicer?" I feel like I'm about to faint, but I muscle through.

Saito looks at me, confused, but then he realizes what I'm really asking, and his face becomes even redder than mine.

"A-are you sure? T-this isn't some kind of trick?"

I shake my head, and he starts undoing my shirt buttons. Each button that comes off, my face is redder, and redder. He finally undoes the last button and looks at me, asking for permission. I'm about to nod my head, but I don't know if I should. Is it all right to got through with this? _I-I guess we're technically married._

I look at him, and nod my head. He removes my shirt and starts to kiss me again. _Weird, didn't I have a dream like this?_ I put my arms to his chest... and I push him away.

"I-I'm sorry. I c-can't do this. I'm not ready." I honestly feel a little disappointed with myself. I finally manage to get this far, and I chicken out.

Saito nods like he understands, and hands me my shirt, which I put on as quickly as I can. Embarrassed, I lie down on the bed and try to sleep. Saito does the same, and is asleep in minutes. I scoot closer and put an arm around him.

_I may not have gotten that far, but I think I can live with this. I'm more than happy enough just like this._

Within minutes, I'm asleep, happy that I have Saito here, and that he won't be leaving me.


	14. Knighting

Author Notes:

The Louise POV at the end of this chapter might just be my favorite. I always waited for a moment in the light novels where Louise just starts rubbing everything in Siesta's face, but it never happened. I wrote it as a sort of wish fulfillment.

Since someone's probably curious, no I do not know what Louise was dreaming of, and I don't feel like letting my mind wander enough to fill in that detail. Use your imagination. I'm sure you can come up with a much better dream than I can. And no, I won't tell you when Louise got the sailor suit. I just really wanted to have that scene in here (Again, for strictly story related purposes I assure you). Read, review, leave feedback, and enjoy the story!

14: Knighting

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting THAT from Louise at all. I probably should have, this Louise seems a lot bolder than last time, but I didn't think she would just kiss me and then offer THAT. At least she didn't try to cut off my oxygen supply with her tongue again. Otherwise it would have happened no matter what she said. Thankfully, she seems to have learned her lesson that, in this world, you never have a peaceful, romantic moment for more than 30 seconds. Something, or someone, will interrupt you. It has been better than last time, but I wouldn't hold my breath on getting more than a minute at most.

_Something tells me that even that's being optimistic. _It's good to know my inner monologue's back. He seems to have learned to shut up, but still, he can be really annoying.

All things considered, I want really as upset as I should have been about her backing out. Considering we've almost gotten to that point about eight times in the past only for nothing to happen, I've gotten used to it.

When I woke up, Louise had her arms around me. A quick glance at window says its maybe morning.

"Louise, its morning. Time to get up." I whisper to her, trying to wake her up without shaking or yelling.

Eventually her eyes slowly open.

"Saitooo, why'd you stop?" She says in a voice that's a mix of embarrassment and... Pleasure? She must have been having a "good" dream, details of which I will never ask for. Before I can form a response, she crawls on top of me and starts kissing my neck. Crap, she still thinks she's dreaming. Before she "escalates" I pinch her arm.

"Ow!" then she realizes that she's not dreaming anymore and blushes. I nearly die from how cute it is, that happens when you go without something for a month.

"I'm not even going to bother asking what you were dreaming." I tell her, "The less I know about what goes on in your head about things like that, the better." As much as I don't want to know, I can't help but be a little curious. What was she dreaming about? _There are some things mankind should never know. This is one of them._

She looks down, clearly embarrassed.

"S-sorry." Her voice quivers a little as she says that. I give her a pat on the head.

"Enough of that, let's go see what's for breakfast before we head off to see the princess."

_So now she's having those kinds of dreams about you, eh Saito? _'Shut up. Its not like that.' _Now you're just in denial. _The month I didn't have my inner monologue from not being a familiar was easily the most peaceful month I ever had in this world.

*Scene Break*

"I'd say the meeting went well." I said calmly.

"Of course it went well! You're a chevalier now! You're nobility!" Louise yelled at me.

When we got back to the castle, Henrietta was overjoyed to see us alive. She apologized to Louise over and over allowing the generals to give out suicide orders, and Louise tried to calm her saying things like "Anything to protect the princess!" and things like that. I try not to look angry considering I'm the one who actually did most of the work.

After that, Henrietta apologized for forcing me, even though it was unintentional, to nearly die for her. I just shrug it off and say it's not really a big deal, considering I'm still alive, but she insists on giving me a reward. I'm knighted a chevalier once again, and am made assisting commander of the knights of the water spirit. I probably should mention I'm contracted with the water spirit so this is a little redundant, but I decide against it.

"I may be a chevalier again, but it's mostly honorary. I still don't consider myself a noble. Especially since I'm not a mage."

Louise looks away. I think I even see a blush on her face. _Why would that be?_ My inner monologue wonders. I try to see if I have spontaneously gained the ability to read minds, but no such luck.

"Saito, stop trying to read my mind." Louise tells me, still looking away.

"Seriously? Do mind reading abilities run in the family?" If Louise has been capable of reading my mind all along then I am going to have a lot of explaining to do.

"Not yet, but I can tell that's what you're trying to do. Its what I would be trying to do in a situation like this," she replies.

The thought of Louise reading my mind scares me to silence, and the conversation ends there.

After a few more minutes we reach the academy. Guiche and Montmorency are the first to great us.

"Saito!" they both cry out, running up to me and giving me a friendly pat on the back. I never figured that Montmorency was a show of affection type of girl, then again I never really talked to her that much.

"Where were you?" asks Guiche.

"Saxe-Gotha. That battle did quite a lot of damage, so I had to recover for a few weeks." I leave out the fact that I died. No one here, except Louise who already knows, needs to know that information.

"How did you survive? You fought against 70,000 people!" Montmorency asks.

I put a hand to my chin and ponder how to answer this. Luckily I don't have to.

"That would be me," says Derflinger.

Guiche and Montmorency look surprised, though if its from the sword talking or the fact that it did anything is up for debate.

"Partner here used me to absorb the magic being flung around. He fell unconscious in the middle of the battlefield, so I used that stored up magic to take control of his body and help him escape into the woods. He was found by a lady who runs an orphanage who nursed him back to health." Than he shuts himself back in his scabbard.

Montmorency's about to regain her composure and than she notices my awesome cape that the princess gave me as a sign of my chevalier status.

"S-saito, you're a noble now!" she says, her voice sounds like a mix of disbelief and... Happiness? Why is everyone so happy that I'm a noble now?

Then Guiche's eyes widen when he realizes I'm wearing a mantle. I guess without my awesome cape flapping in the wind (due to a current lack of wind) nobody noticed I was wearing it.

"Oh yeah, I might have forgotten to mention that. I was made me a Chevalier for my efforts during the war and allowing the army to safely retreat." I reply calmly. "Oh! That reminds me, Guiche, you're now head commander of the knights of the water spirit and I'm assisting commander, princess's orders. Queen's now, I guess."

Then he faints. Montmorency kneels next to him and tries to wake him up.

"Let's let them be for now," I say to Louise. "You go back to your room, I'll go grab something to eat."

She nods. "Can you get me some soup? I'm a little hungry after all this traveling."

I smile, "Sure." She heads back to her room, and I head towards the kitchen.

Before I can make it, I run into Slyphid.

"Hi Irukukuu! How you doing?" I have to admit, it is rather nice seeing her again.

She rubs her head affectionately against me. "Yay! Big brother's okay!"

"Indeed I am, how's Tabitha doing?" I am curious, I haven't seen her much and she's much more pleasant than her other half, Kirche.

"Big sister is doing great! She looked sad when big brother was gone but she's better now."

That confused me. "Why was she sad?"

Slyphid thought about it for a second. "Maybe she missed big brother?"

Yeah, and I don't have an extremely annoying voice stuck in my head for all eternity. _Hey! I can hear you, you know!_ Tabitha probably just was sad that her familiar's only non-animal friend died. That's all I could think of that made any sense.

"Well, I'm heading for the kitchen, want anything?" I figure I should probably get her something, she thinks of me as her older brother after all.

She perks up. "Can you get Irkukuu some chicken? Irukukuu likes chicken." I can almost see the thoughts of chicken rolling through her head. Maybe I had developed mind reading powers and they only worked on dragons thinking about chicken.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do."

"Yay! Big brother is the best!" she gives me one more affectionate head rub, than urges me towards the kitchen to get her chicken.

"Our sword! You're nobility now!" cries the head chef, pulling me into one of his chokehold hugs. "I'm so proud of you! To think, a commoner like us can ascend to nobility!"

I'd ask him why he's apparently trying to choke me out, but I don't get the chance. Siesta bursts in.

"Please take good care of me Saito!" she says, almost exploding from happiness. The head chef is surprised and lets go of me, allowing me to breathe.

"Um... What?" My brain's trying to put two and two together, then I remember, but I let her continue anyways.

"The princess has order me to become your personal maid! I have the papers here!" She pulls a paper out of her pocket it and shoves it in my face. Sure enough, it is the princess's handwriting, and it says that Siesta is to become my maid.

"Please take good care of me!"

I think about how to approach this. My mind is telling me not to take her up to Louise's room right away, but the reason in my time couldn't happen in this time, I took precautions to avoid that. Nonetheless, I decide to play it safe.

"That's... Great Siesta! You wait here. I'll go tell Louise. It would be rude for you to just pop in their, right?" I try telling her.

"No no no! I must accompany you everywhere!"

I try not to let my annoyance show. "Fine then, you're my personal maid, I request you stay here while I go tell Louise. Got it?"

She hangs her head. "Okay."

"Good girl." I remember something. "Head chef, you got any soup left? Louise wanted some."

He shakes his head. "Sorry, our sword, we're fresh out. We'll have some more ready for dinnertime though."

"Oh well, what about some chicken?" I should probably get Slyphid's order while I'm here.

"Right here!" he pulls a big tub of chicken in front of me. I grab the three biggest chicken legs I can find and take them. I thank him for his kindness and head out. I stop to give Slyphid the chicken and then head for Louise's room.

*Scene Break*

I don't know what I was expecting when I entered Louise's room. What happened last time couldn't happen again, I made sure of it. Then why did I still have this feeling of dread hanging over me? I opened the door, not knowing what to expect, then I saw IT._ How did she get that?_ I don't know, but she was currently alternating between begging on the floor, and standing up pointing at the floor.

"What exactly is going on here?"

Louise, clad in the accursed sailor suit, eeps and turns at the sound of my voice. Then she blushes.

"T-that stupid sword told me you were interested in this when we went shopping back in Albion. So I ended up buying it." She says embarrassed.

"Where was I when this happened?" I don't know when she got the time to buy it.

She looks down. "C-can we stop talking about this?"

_No, we can't. Saito here loves it too much._ 'Shut up. Do I need to keep repeating that?'

"And that whole staged performance I saw was?" I ask Louise.

She blushed harder. "I-i-i'd rather n-not talk about it." Then she glances over at the mirror and gives a good hard look at herself. She seems to have forgotten I'm here and gives a little twirl, still looking at the mirror. Her hair, scarf, and skirt go spinning. I suffer a mental overload and my brain, and possibly nose judging by the stream I see flowing down my shirt, explodes, causing me to pass out.

I wake up on the bed, Louise looking at me worried. Luckily for me, she has her old uniform on again. _God, you have been doing this too much. Does your nose just have a vein made specifically for the purpose of shooting projectile blood out of in situations like this? _My inner monologue wonders to itself.

"You overdid it with the spinning. I could barely handle it as is." I tell her while I sit up, a little lightheaded from the gallons of blood I just lost.

Her face is about as red as the floor was when I passed out. "S-sorry. I already burned the thing."

"Thank god! It can never hurt anyone again. Oh! I almost forgot, the princess says Siesta has to become my personal maid. That means staying here, with us." I tell Louise a little grimly.

She gasps in surprise. "W-what? Are you serious?"

I nod. "Yep. I told her to stay at the kitchen until I told her otherwise. I guess I made the right choice."

Before Louise can respond, Siesta bursts into the room.

"Oh no! I disobeyed your orders! You'll have to punish me!" before I can even begin to think what she means by that statement, she notices the situation.

"Wh-what happened? Is Saito okay?"

"It's nothing to worry about. I tripped on a loose floorboard and fell down." Sometimes my ability to make up things on the spot astounds me with how awesome it is. Other times, like this, it lets me down with how uncreative it is.

"Never you mind! We have bigger problems to worry about!" I tell the two of them before either can respond to my earlier claim.

"And that would be?" Asks Louise.

"Sleeping arrangements." They notice the problem immediately. One bed, three people. The bed could hold three people, but I feared for my life every night last time when we settled on that. "I'd share a bed with one of you, but not both at the same time. So how about this, I sleep in my little pile of hay, you two get the bed. Good? Awesome. Good night."

I'm desperate to avoid talking about this subject any further so I jump into my haystack and turn over.

"And if I find either of you in this haystack when I wake up, I will not be pleased. That goes for pulling me into that bed as well." Its targeted more at Siesta, but Louise is guilty of it too. I use my peripheral vision and see the two of them lie down in the bed and fall asleep. I say a few prayers that the two of them wont band together in an attempt to get into my pants. I might just have to start slaughtering the innocent if that happens, and we don't want that, do we?

*Louise POV*

I was a little embarrassed when Saito brought up the sleeping arrangements, and when he seemed to include me in the part about not crawling into his haystack. It may have happened once, but I'm pretty sure I was drunk that night and not in a proper state of mind.

I slept on the left side of the bed, nearest Saito, with Siesta sleeping on the other side, her back to me. I see her shuffle a bit towards the edge of the bed, probably to do who knows what with Saito while he's asleep.

"You better not do whatever you're planning to do," I tell her as calmly as possible. "Saito said he would be angry if he found anyone in his haystack, maybe even angry enough to fire you?"

She scoots away from the edge.

"You're probably right, that would be bad, but that's not why you want me away from him, is it Louise?"

"W-what are you t-talking about? Wh-what other reason could there be?" I curse myself for stuttering when I get flustered.

She turns and faces me. "You're worried about me stealing him away, aren't you?"

"W-why would I b-be worried about s-something like that?"

I see her smile. I swear she's enjoying this more than she should.

"Aww, are you in denial? That's okay Louise, we all know you love your little familiar, don't you?"

"Eep!" is my clever reply, followed by a blush.

"Well have you confessed? Have you told him how much you love him?"

I blush even more. "Yes. Among other things." I say in a voice so quiet it would make Tabitha jealous, that is, if she ever showed any emotion.

"W-what?" Hmm... It appears she hasn't expected this. I decide to continue.

"Y-yes, I did confess to him," I decide to push all of this into her face, make her sorry for bringing up this topic. "He's already confessed to me as well."

"No!"

"Oh yes! When we went to my family's estate, I was hiding from my family in a small boat on the lake. Saito found me and tried to get me to leave but I refused. When he realized I wouldn't leave, he told me he loved me to convince me to leave!" Okay, that was back in his time, but it still happened, so it's not a complete lie.

"B-But he would never skip a detail like that!" I'm enjoying watching Siesta suffer like this.

"That's not all either. That's where I told him I loved him as well! Then I even let him kiss me." Siesta's face almost makes me laugh.

"B-b-but-"

"One last thing," I say before she can finish her though.

"A-a-and that is?"

"We're married. He's my husband, and I'm his wife."

Siesta's face is too much to bear, and I start laughing to myself.

"Oh yeah, didn't I mention? Back in Albion, before I was supposed to go sacrifice myself to stop the army, we made out final requests. He wanted a last drink, so he could drug me and get me out of there, and I requested we marry. He agreed to it!" I say confidently.

Siesta's face is a mixture of shock, disbelief, and anger. "Y-you're lying! There's no way-"

"Than how about a deal?" I say.

"D-deal?"

"The Slepnier Ball. Everyone will be disguised as someone else. If he doesn't find me, then you can have one day to do whatever you want with him." I pause to let that sink in. I can already tell I've hooked her in. No matter what the other condition is she'll agree to the deal.

"A-and if he finds you?"

"You give up and stop making advances on him."

Before Siesta can react, "Keep it down, I'm trying to sleep..." mumbles Saito from his hay bed.

"S-saito! How much have you heard?" I'm nervous, if he knows about the plan and doesn't go along with it...

"Nothing really, I'm trying to tune you two out so I can go to sleep. Continue your girly chat if you must, but please keep it down." Saito turns over and goes to sleep.

I look at Siesta and whisper, "Do we have a deal?"

She looks at me and hesitates a bit before answering. "Deal."

I smile. Now that that's out of the way, I can go to sleep.


	15. Rescue

Author Notes:

Elves suck to write. The fight with the elf was a pain to write because it sucked in the light novels too. Saito charges the elf and keeps slashing, only to be repelled every time. Louise finishes dispel, casts it, battle's won. What am I supposed to do with that? I blame void magic for being such a macguffin. Need something done? Void magic will do it, not matter what it is. Read, review, leave feedback, and enjoy the story!

15: Rescue

I was relieved when I woke up. I was still in my haystack, neither Siesta nor Louise was in it with me, and I was still fully clothed. If we can keep this up for every other night, then I have nothing to worry about.

"It's morning! Siesta, as my personal maid, would you mind heading down to the kitchen and getting some soup for me?"

She sits up immediately and rushes out the door. Louise is still trying to will herself into being awake, to little effect.

"You know, it looks like a nice day. I think I'll go for a walk around the academy." I think I see her nod, but she could just be falling asleep and waking up at almost random intervals. When I'm at the door, I remember what happens tonight.

"Hey, Louise. It's that masquerade ball tonight, isn't it?"

"I think so." She's still tired, and it shows.

"What, or should I say who, are you going as?" I really didn't hear whatever they said last night, but I figure that they made a similar, if not identical bet. If I played to Louise's side of the bet, I could stop the second potion event from happening. Hopefully. Events still seemed to happen in this timeline no matter how hard I tried to stop them.

"I was thinking about going as Cattleya, why do you ask?"

I give one of my patented shrugs. "Well, it'll be hard to find you at the ball if I don't know who you are, right?" I wink and walk out, leaving her to wonder how I knew.

*Scene Break*

So the walk was boring. Nothing happened. Disappointed, I killed time until the ball began. Being a familiar, I didn't have to change into anyone, which was a relief because it would be embarrassing if I turned into Louise, or the Princess or something like that. Come to think of it, the whole idea behind this ball is rather flawed. I understand that you're supposed to use the mirror of truth and become the person you most admire and socialize with people even if you have no idea who they are, but what happens if you fall in love with someone? What do you do if you fall in love with this one person and you never know who it is? Or what if its someone who's the same sex as you? My point was proven when a few students tried to hit on this one girl, and she was really the headmaster, Osmond. Their reactions were amazing.

I looked around for Louise, but I didn't see her. _Maybe she hasn't arrived yet._ It would definitely not be good if she decided to go as someone else. Then how would I find her? I looked towards the balcony and saw Louise, or should I say Henrietta disguised as Louise. I made sure not to go in that direction. Last time, she kissed me, Louise got really upset and ran off into the forest where she got kidnapped by Myoznitnirn. I had a feeling that would happen again, but I didn't really know how.

I stuck my hands into my pockets absentmindedly, and noticed something that shouldn't be there. I pulled out a piece of paper. It wasn't my time stream cheat sheet. I left that back in Louise's room. I unfolded the note and read it.

"Gandalfar, I have your master. We're hiding in the forest. Have fun finding us! Also, if you're wondering how I got this into your pocket without you knowing, I used one of my magical artifacts. I have an artifact for just about anything. Myoznitnirn. P.S. You talk in your sleep."

Well, that explains a lot. A little too much, actually. I walked up to the balcony.

"Hi Princess!" She turned towards me instinctively.

"How did you know I was the princess?" She sounds surprised.

"So I was right, anyway, just wanted to let you know, that person we told you about, Myoznitnirn, is back and kidnapped Louise. Don't worry, I'll save her."

Before she can respond, I vault over the balcony and run off towards the forrest. I had Derflinger with me, just in case, So I used my Gandalfar powers to get there even faster. Then she showed up.

"Ah, hello Tabitha. Here to kill me I suppose?"

She nods, if she's surprised that I new that she doesn't show it. Instead she shoots some icicles at me. I dodge.

"Very astute Gandalfar! Now, do you kill this girl, your friend, or do you let your master die?"

I turn and see Myoznitnirn riding on the back of what looks like a giant (When I say Giant, I mean 60 feet wide and 80 feet long) manta ray, Louise standing behind her, her eyes blank. Mind control. I wonder how Myoz could possibly do that, and then I notice the ring on her finger. Myoznitnirn was wearing the ring of Andvarri, the one that was originally from this time. I'd need a way to snap Louise out of it, get the ring, and take down Tabitha without killing her. It was kind of hard to think with Tabitha throwing ice spears at me all the time. Then I got an idea. I grabbed one of the ice spears that was launched at me and tossed it, end over end, at Louise. The blunt side hit her on the head. She stumbled backwards, but she looked like she was back in control.

"Great! You're back! Get the ring off of her hand!" I yell at her.

Before I can check to see how she does in that effort, I run towards Tabitha. I dodge her ice spears and absorb her air hammer. I jump up and land right next to Tabitha. I hit her in the stomach and she falls down. I aim my sword at her head. If I just bring it down now, I can save a whole lot of trouble in the future.

I hesitate, but I make my decision and bring the sword down. Tabitha blankly looks at me, and I see some blood on her cheek. I guess she did manage to hit me with her magic.

"Why?" Her eyes look like a mix between confusion and relief.

I pull Derf out of the ground next to her head. "Honestly I just couldn't kill someone who has helped us so much." Before I can continue, I hear Louise scream. It looks like she's having a fist fight with Myoznitnirn on the top of that flying manta ray. I'm so proud of her sometimes.

"Tabitha, get Slyphid!" I figure that I didn't kill her, even though I had the chance, so she at least owed it to me to rescue Louise.

She whistles and Slyphid comes down. We jump on and fly towards them. When we get closer, I jump off and Tabitha casts levitation on me to slow my descent. I land on the Manta Ray and see Louise crumpled on the ground, Myoznitnirn standing over her. As much as I'm proud she tried to fight her off, I can't help but think how much of an idiot she was for trying that. I'll worry about it later.

Myoznitnirn opens her mouth to speak, before the tail of the Ray explodes. I look up and she a giant ship flying above us, a single cannon trained on the manta ray. I see Kirche and Mr. Colbert standing on the ship. Before I can say hi, I use the moment to grab Louise and jump off the Ray. Great timing, considering the rest of the thing explodes at that moment. I don't let go of Louise when the explosion happens and I don't let her go when hundreds of pieces of shrapnel fly into my back, even though my back has about a hundred new holes that it shouldn't.

Then she wakes up and looks at me, her eyes fill with anger and sadness. "How could you! How could you do that with the princess! I hate you! I hate both of you!"

I guess she's referring to some lie that Myoznitnirn told her to get her to follow.

"Louise! Stop struggling! Do you want me to drop you?"

"No! NO! Let me go! I hate you!"

I break out my secret weapon and kiss her. She shuts up, stops struggling, and eventually gives in. Perfect, now we can both die from the fall in peace. Luckily, Slyphid grabs the two of us and throws us onto the ship.

Louise looks at me, her eyes looking a little watery. "I-is what she said true? D-did you do those things with the princess?"

I sigh, "Really? You honestly believed the person who's trying to kidnap and kill you?"

She blushes and looks down. "I-I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

Then she perks up, like she remembered something. She reaches into her shirt pocket and tosses me something. I catch it out of instinct and look at it. So Louise got the ring of Andvarri after all?

I smile. "Great job, you've done good Louise, Now go find a bed or something and go to sleep, it looks like you've had a long day." I say while pocketing the ring. I should give it to the water spirit, but I think I'll hold onto it. Just in case.

She nods, and walks off. I decide to try and find something to eat. It's been a while since dinner and I was hungry after that whole episode. We'd talk about it later.

*Louise POV*

I couldn't believe myself. I can't believe I let myself believe Myoznitnirn. How could I be stupid enough to trust someone who tried to kill me? I felt even worse about attacking Saito after he had just saved me. I just needed something to take my mind off this whole night.

"Louise!" Cried Siesta. Perfect! Just what I needed to get my mind of this.

"Soooo? Did Saito find you at the ball?" Siesta asked me teasingly.

I gave a brief thought as to how I should answer this. "In a manner of speaking, no-"

"Then I win!" She started jumping up and down

"I wasn't finished." That shut her up. "He didn't find me because I wasn't at the ball. I was kidnapped and he came and saved me. If anything, I'd say that means I win. Get it?"

Siesta looks incredibly disappointed. "I understand. I will stop trying to make advances on Saito."

It felt much better than it should have to hear those words. "Its not all bad, you can still be his maid, you just can't try to steal him away from me."

Siesta still looks saddened, but seems slightly mollified that she can still be around him. "Okay."

I smile, give her a pat on the back to reassure her, then I continue my search for a bed. I get the feeling that tomorrow will be a big day, but I don't know why.

*Scene Break*

*Saito POV*

Well the night was interesting. It was great seeing Colbert again, and it was even better seeing that Kirche had moved on from trying to get me and has now set her sights on Colbert. He explained how he worked on the Ostland, the ship we were on, in Germania. He pointed me to where the lodging was. I found Louise's room and fell asleep on the floor. I knew that tomorrow we would be heading out on another adventure, this time to Gallia.

I woke up and went to the academy's courtyard to meet with the rest of the Knights of the Water Spirit. We basically rejoiced in having our fifth member, Reynal. We had more people, but they all quit when I told them that you should not be part of this just to pick up girls. That cut the numbers down pretty quickly. Louise and Montmorency were there too for some reason, but that didn't stop them from getting completely drunk.

"Saito, I hate your guts, you know that right? Your's too Guiche." Said Malicorne.

"Oh really. Would that be because I've done more in a few months than you ever will in your life?" I ask him. Through years of training I have built up a resistance to alcohol so only amounts that would kill someone used get me as drunk as the rest of them were. A whole bottle used to only get me tipsy. Siesta shoving that bottle down my throat a few months back was the final step, and now I am incapable of getting drunk.

"NO you ****er!" He says angrily. This outburst surprises everyone else, but not me. I simply begin counting down in my head. _5..._

"You got girls throwing themselves at you!"

_4..._

"And you Guiche! You got Montmorency!"

_3..._

"I don't got anyone!"

_2..._

"You people just got good luck raining down like meteors!"

_1... 0_

"Kyuuuuuuii!" At that moment, a girl with long, dark blue hair landed on top of Malicorne. She was about as tall as Montmorency and was rather pretty, I suppose, but the way she acted was like a child. Especially considering she didn't have a stitch of clothing on her and didn't seem to care. She looked around and saw me.

"Big Brother!" She grabbed me in a big hug.

"It's alway Saito." I hear the pile of dust that was once Malicorne grumble.

"Nice to see you again Irukukuu." Yes, this was Slyphid disguised as a human. "Would you mind putting this on?" I say, handing her my cloak. She puts it on.

"Saito, who is this girl, and why did she call you her brother?" Louise is the first to regain a shred of cognitive function.

"This is Irukukuu. She's Tabitha's sister." Everyone gasps.

"Tabitha has a sister?" Asks Montmorency.

"Yep, I met her once on accident when she came by to visit Tabitha. I gave her some food and now she thinks of me as her big brother." Not a complete lie, just not the whole truth.

"Big brother! You have to rescue big sister!" Slyphid exclaimed.

"What happened to Tabitha?" I already know the answer, but that would look weird to everyone, so I ask what's wrong.

"They got her! They got big sister and took her away!"

"What! They got Tabitha?" says Kirche. When she got here I have no idea, but it looks like she heard the whole conversation.

"They got her! You have to go rescue her!"

I look around and everyone agrees we need to go investigate.

"Let's go find out what happened to Tabitha. Irukukuu, would you mind getting Slyphid so we can fly to Tabitha's house and look for a lead?"

"Of course big brother!" She runs off.

*Scene Break*

"Absolutely not," said Henrietta.

"That was quick." I didn't expect to be rejected like that so quickly.

We had gone to Tabitha's house where Irukukuu told us, she let everyone know she was really Slyphid in disguise, that an elf had taken Tabitha away. Tabitha's butler told us that they had taken Tabitha's mother away to Alhambra Castle, so we made that our destination. First we had to get Henrietta's permission to cross the border into Gallia. And so here Guiche, Louise and I were.

"Princess you must understand, Tabitha is our friend, we can't just abandon her!" Said Louise.

"I cannot permit you to cross into Gallia. You are all members of this court, if something goes wrong, Gallia will blame Tristain and declare war on us!"

_Considering the world has wars every year, I doubt that there's much trouble from another one, _my inner monologue says to itself.

"Than lets make this conversation short," I say while removing my awesome cape.

"W-what are you doing?" Asks everyone in the room.

"There, now I'm not one of your knights. Go ahead and lock us up. We'll break out, you put out a wanted call on our head or something, we head to Gallia and rescue Tabitha, and we come back. There won't be any trouble for Tristain if the people who walk into Gallia are wanted fugitives."

Everyone just stands in silence for a minute. My logic would be more impressive if this wasn't what happened last time and I didn't already know that this was a winning strategy.

Henrietta sighed. "Guards, arrest him." I let myself be taken by the guards.

I wait in my cell for a while, before Guiche and Louise join me.

"So how'd it go?" I ask cheerfully.

"The princess says we are absolutely forbidden from leaving, or she will punish us." Louise says sadly. I notice that neither of them are wearing their cloaks. I guess they gave them up too.

"Don't worry, it's almost nighttime, help should be arriving in-"

I'm cut off by an explosion followed by the guards falling onto the floor.

"Now."

Kirche and Colbert arrive and undo our cell. They hand Guiche and Louise their wands, and I get Derflinger back.

"Did the plan work?" Asks Colbert.

"Well we're in here so... yes." I respond.

"What plan?" Asks Louise, sounding very confused.

"Like I said earlier, there's no problem for Tristain if the people who enter Gallia are wanted fugitives, right? I simply asked Colbert for some help getting us out of here."

Before anyone can ask any questions, I push Guiche out of the cell and grab Louise and pull her along while we get out of here.

*Scene Break*

"I hate this plan. I hate this plan very much." Montmorency complains.

"Stop complaining, it suits you well," says Kirche in a teasing voice.

After getting out of the jail, we met up with the rest of the knights and Montmorency. The knights and Colbert would fly the Ostland away from where we were heading to try and confuse any forces that would chase after us. Me, Louise, Guiche, Kirche, Slyphid (as Irkukuu) and Montmorency would march towards Gallia, disguised as a traveling circus. Kirche and Montmorency were disguised as dancers, and as such were wearing just enough to be considered clothed, which is why Montmorency was complaining. Guiche had a fake mustache on, and Louise and I were dressed in peasant clothes. Apparently I was supposed to be a sword dancer, but I didn't see it.

I expected a lot of resistance from guards chasing us while we headed for Gallia, but none came. I guess the princess went along with the plan after all. We got into Gallia without a hitch. Alhambra castle was in view within just a few days, even if the traveling itself took about 2 weeks on foot.

"There it is. Alhambra castle." Said Guiche.

"Right, before we go further, we need a plan." I tell everyone.

"Plan?" Is everyone's reply.

I raise an eyebrow. "You thought we would just march in through the front door, grab Tabitha and walk out with a fight?"

They all seem to get it, which is good.

"How about this, what if we put all the guards to sleep?" Suggests Montmorency. "We can buy some wine, mix sleeping potion into it, and give it to all the guards and put them to sleep. We walk in, get Tabitha and walk out with no one realizing a thing."

Everyone's silent for a minute. Did everyone here have the ability to read my mind?

"Um... right. That'll work. I think."

*Scene Break*

"I can't believe that worked!" Cried Louise. She insisted on being a dancer too, and was dressed up in the same outfit as them. The exact same outfit that barely covered anything. Needless to say, I had a hard time controlling the blood that was ready to gush out of my nose and cause me to pass out again.

The plan was a complete success. All the guards were put to sleep and no one was left awake. All that was left was to go get Tabitha, walk out, and fight an elf. I might have forgotten to mention to them that the elf was probably there, but I hoped that it wouldn't.

Needless to say, I have a habit of thinking a little too positively at times.

Within seconds of Louise finishing her sentence, an explosion was heard. We went over to investigate and found Kirche, badly burned. I look over and saw a guy with a nice hat standing near the wall.

"Ah, my apologies. I know you're here for the Gallian princess, so how about you all just walk away right now. I hate fights and you can't win." He says calmly.

"Who are you to tell us what fights we can't win?" Asks Guiche. The man responds by taking off his hat, revealing long pointy ears.

"He's an elf, obviously." I say, taking Derflinger out of his sheathe, ready to fight.

The elf sighs, "So you choose your destruction? Very well"

"Louise, I can't win this if you don't help. I need to you make the strongest dispel you can and cast it on Derflinger. That's the only way we can get past his counter magic." Well, the only way unless Louise happened to have a fully loaded World War II Tiger Tank, which I highly doubt.

"You've done this before, haven't you?" She sounds scared beyond measure.

"How'd you know?"

I charge the elf and she starts chanting. He barely puts up a fight. In fact, he just stands there, not moving. I know its useless but I keep slashing anyway. Each strike is deflected off the air in front of him.

"Yes, Counter is a particularly useful spell for someone like me. Not a single one of your attacks will make hit me. But all of my attacks can hit you." He punches me in the stomach and I go flying back. I land near Louise and get up. She's still chanting, so I just have to muscle through.

"I command thee, let the earth rise up and attack those who oppose me," says Mr. Elf.

As he says that, about a dozen rocks the size of my head rise from the earth and come towards Louise and I. I stand in front of her and ready myself for the intense pain that's about to come. The rocks start flying and I try to deflect them. I do well, until one collides with my skull. My vision goes fuzzy, and I can feel myself about to pass out. Through sheer force of will, I push through. Then Louise finishes her spell. She fires it, and I have Derflinger absorb it, who promptly starts glowing. Using this power, I rush towards the elf and slash at him again. Derflinger slices cleanly through the counter magic and I point the blade at his throat.

"As you can see, I am now in a position to kill you. I would really rather not, so if you could just step aside and let us get Tabitha and her mother, I would be really grateful."

His response is to run away. Without a word, he simply leaps into the air and runs off. I turn to the rest of the group.

"There. Elf's done. Let's go get Tabitha." Then I fall flat on my face, unconscious. _That whole thing would have been a lot more awesome if you didn't pass out. Just saying._ I wake up a few minutes later, thanks to Montmorency's healing. We run up the tower and approach the room at the top. I try the door and find that it's locked. So I do what any logical person with three powerful mages around him would do, and I kick down the door. We find Tabitha asleep on her bed next to her mother. I pick up Tabitha and piggyback her out of there, while Louise and Guiche get her mom. Montmorency has Kirche, who is still unconscious. A feeling of victory over the group, we exit the castle and start heading home.

*Louise POV*

I couldn't believe it. Saito had won against an elf, one of the most feared creatures in all of the world, and he won thanks to me. I was worried when he collapsed after the battle, but thankfully Montmorency is a great healer. We took Tabitha, her mother and Kirche out of the castle, set up camp, and thought about our next move. We couldn't just head back to Tristain, considering we were wanted fugitives. Than an owl with a letter landed on my shoulder and gave me a letter. Sometimes I wondered just how these owls tracked down the people who they deliver the letters too.

I opened the letter and read it. My face paled immediately.

"What's the matter, Louise?" Asked Saito, trying to hide the fact that he already knew.

"It's from the princess. When we've rescued Tabitha, she wants us to come back immediately so she can talk to us."

"What's the problem then?" Asks Guiche.

"She wants us to meet back at my family's house." Saito immediately pales, no doubt he remembers why we shouldn't got back to my estate.

"It is going to be trouble explaining this to your parent's isn't it?" Asks Montmorency.

I shake my head, "You don't understand. I'm scared out of my wits at the moment so I'll give the short version. My mother is Karin the Heavy Wind." Then everyone's face pales.

"Yes, my mother, one of the most feared commanders in all of the military before she retired, has to talk to me about directly disobeying the princess and illegally crossing the border." I don't mention the event with the boat, considering no one needs to know about that, even though that's what's likely going to be the death of me.

The conversation ends right there and everyone decides to go to sleep. I think about all the things my mother is going to do to me for everything I've done, and I unconsciously scoot next to Saito, almost snuggling, for comfort.


	16. Several Near Death Experiences

Author Notes:

Okay, I'm sorry for the Jormungand fight, but what am I supposed to do? Its not like in other stories where Saito can single handedly destroy the thing using his mind, its a little harder here. Keeping that in mind, I added the two scenes at the end.

Speaking of which I HATED writing the last part of this chapter. As soon as I decided what was going to happen I sat down, wrote the beginning of it and my mind froze. It was really difficult to write it in a satisfying and T rated way. Overall, I'm actually pretty satisfied with how it turned out.

I wasn't sure whether or not to tackle the subject of False Motives, but I like the scene. I think it came out pretty well. I had a debate about whether or not to kick the inner monologue out of the story because of Tifa's magic. I decided against it because I just have too much fun writing him.

Now the bad news. In a matter of speaking, this is the penultimate chapter. Storywise this is the last chapter. Next chapter is more of a bonus chapter, and after that is the epilogue. I would have liked to continue throughout the entire series, but I can't for the obvious reasons. Read, review, leave feedback, and enjoy the story!

16: Several Near-Death Experiences

"Look on the bright side, since you're going to get killed anyway, it's at least nice to be killed with close friends nearby."

"Thank you Saito, that makes me feel much better."

We were about ten minutes from Louise's house, and she was understandably terrified. If my mother was one of the most feared commanding officials in military history, and I had just illegally crossed the border and had to endure her punishment, I'd be scared too.

"Well, maybe being married has domesticated her to a degree of niceness?" Guiche offered hopefully.

I didn't even need to reply to that. At that moment, the carriage was swept up off the ground by a giant tornado. Everyone, except Tabitha and I, started to scream and try to grab onto something. I just waited for the carriage to fall down to earth, which it did. After it threw Louise and I out the window. Louise was knocked unconscious when she landed, but fully expecting this to happen, I was able to land on my feet and avoid any noticeable damage.

"Don't you think this is a little harsh Duchess?" I say, turning to the cause of the tornado, Karin the heavy wind.

"No. It is not harsh enough." She says in that steel tone of hers.

"Well, seeing as how I'm her familiar, I have to protect her. Sorry, but I have to attack you."

Her lips quirk into what is almost a smile, which scares me, "Very well. No hard feeling I hope."

Then a large tornado appears behind her, and she sends it at me. Derflinger drawn, giving me added speed, I rush the tornado. However, instead of being an idiot and charging a killer tornado for the FOURTH time in my life, I jump off to the side, dodging the tornado. I see a brief look of surprise on Karin's face, confused as to what my strategy could be. I don't really know what she's confused about though, I thought that dodging attacks and trying to get close to your opponent was an obvious strategy. I rush towards her and, seeing her point a wand at me, leap about 30 feet into the air. I land behind her and, before she even gets a chance to turn around, I hit her across the face with Derflinger's hilt, sending her too the ground. Her concentration lost, the tornado disappears.

She just looks at me, completely surprised that I could have landed a blow on her. I offer her my hand.

"Sorry about that. Your spells are incredibly powerful, but they're unbelievably slow. You might want to instead focus on shooting weaker spells more quickly against an opponent like me. No hard feelings I hope."

She simply looks at me in surprise, but takes my hand and I help her up. I go over to Louise and wake her up.

"Hey, Louise. Wake up." I shake her a little and she wakes up. Then she jumps to her feet terrified when she sees her mother standing about 10 feet away.

"M-mother! I'm sorry! I had to cross the border to save our friend! Please don't punish us!"

"I already tried."

"What?" Louise's terror melts away into confusion.

"I already tried to punish you, but your familiar stopped me. Never before have I met a commoner who could land a hit on me." It almost sounds like she respects me. Odd.

"What!" Louise looks at me, shocked that I could have done that to her mother.

I shrug. "She was launching a killer tornado at you."

"Not that! You were able to hit her?" I guess that is an accomplishment in its own right, considering her mother's reputation.

"Her spells are powerful, but they're ridiculously slow. For someone like me, who's really fast, its better to launch weaker, but faster, spells," I turn to Karin. "But enough about that, Shouldn't we go talk to the princess now?"

*Scene Break*

"Princess, We recognize that we have disobeyed your orders and crossed the border into Gallia. We also recognize that you have every right to punish us as you see fit." Says Louise, kneeling before Henrietta

"Well, when you say it like that its like we're going to be killed." I'm still standing.

"Louise please, stand up." Henrietta doesn't sound like she intends to punish us too badly, which is good considering I'm pretty sure illegally crossing the border is indeed punishable by death.

"In the interest of cutting this conversation of filler, Henrietta, Louise probably won't stand up or do anything until you bestow your punishment on her. Louise, just stand up. You and Henrietta are friends, right?" Louise hesitantly stands up, and Henrietta just stares at me. I get that reaction a lot when I take charge of the conversation.

"Louise, I'm not going to punish you. What you did was the right thing to do, and Gallia doesn't seem intent on starting wars so there's no problem for Tristain."

"No princess, We directly disobeyed you. You told us to not to cross the border, and we did."

"No Louise, I encouraged you to go across the border." Henrietta says while smiling.

"What?" Louise just seems confused, again.

"Allow me to explain," I say, taking charge once again, "Didn't you find it weird how after breaking out of the prison not once did guards come after us? Not once did any Tristain forces try and detain us. Henrietta, is it fine if I call you Henrietta?" She nods. "Henrietta never sent any forces after us. She wanted us to go to Gallia and save Tabitha."

Henrietta nods. "That is correct. Louise, I wanted you to save your friend. Without her help you would have been kidnapped by Myoznitnirn. She deserved to be helped."

"Then, what happens now?" asks Louise.

Henrietta pulls out a purple mantle and hands it to Louise. "This happens. Take this cloak. With it, you will be considered my little sister, and second in line for the throne."

Then Louise fainted. After checking to make sure she was okay I turned to Henrietta.

"I think you might have surprised her a bit."

Henrietta blushed. "Sorry, I didn't know she would react that way. When she wakes up, make sure she wears that."

I nod. "Of course."

Henrietta grabs another mantle and hands it to me. I already know what its for, so I just put it on without a word.

"And, Saito?"

"Yes, Henrietta?"

"Thank you for taking care of her. I had another request, but I think that can wait until Louise feels better."

"You want us to bring Tiffania back here from Saxe-Gotha don't you?"

She gasped, "How do you always know what I'm going to say?"

"First, no I can't read minds. Second, It's only natural. We know of another void user who is willing to help us out. I think its only natural to want to bring her here."

Henrietta nodded. "Anyway, you are correct. But that can wait for a week while Louise gets readjusted."

I nod, pick up Louise and walk out of the room. I plan to taking her to Cattleya's room to make sure she has someone look over her when I'm stopped.

"What exactly are you doing with my daughter?"

"I don't know what you're thinking I was doing, but what I actually am doing is taking her to Cattleya's room." I say, turning to the Duke. _I know what I would be doing if I was stuck with an unconscious Louise. _'And you're willing to face the Duke's wrath because of it?'

"And she's unconscious because?"

I smile. "Your little Louise is now second in line for the throne."

He blinks and looks at me with a face of blank surprise.

"Yeah, Henrietta made Louise her honorary little sister for her efforts, and Louise passed out from... Excitement I guess."

He nods, which I take as permission to leave and I continue on my way.

"I don't believe I ever caught your name."

I freeze in place, "I'm Saito Hiraga."

"And you're relationship with my daughter?"

Crap, I already hate where this conversation is going. "Do you want an honest answer, or one of those answers that's not the whole truth but reassures you and makes you feel safe as a parent?"

"Let's hear your lie first, then your honest answer. If they're convincing enough I'll let you go."

"I'm her familiar, and it is my single goal in life to protect her, no matter the cost."

"And your honest answer?"

I blush and look at the ground. "Um... I love her." Short, sweet and the answer most likely to get me killed.

He nods like he expected this answer. Considering what happened the last time we met, I'd say it was pretty obvious conclusion to draw.

"Well, I can't kill a member of the Queen's knights, and you seem like a fine man,"

"Thank you," But I already know where this conversation is going.

"However, I still feel you need a reminder of whose daughter you're trying to wolf away."

I tried to will my nervous system to shut down so I don't feel the pain, but to no avail. I'm pretty sure my screams of pain were heard all around the manor.

*Scene Break*

After that incident, I woke up in Cattleya's room. I could tell because I was surrounded by little fluffy animals that kept nudging me with their noses. I looked around for Louise and saw her sleeping on Cattleya's bed, but I don't see Cattleya anywhere.

"How are you feeling?"

I would have fallen over if I wasn't already lying down. I sit up and look behind me, where the voice came from, and see Cattleya. Why didn't I notice her before?

"Sorry, I was out in the garden while I waited for you to recover."

At this point I don't care what she says or does, I am convinced she can read my mind.

"No Saito, I still can't read minds." She actually sounds a little annoyed. Sometimes I even impress myself.

"That's all the proof I need."

She shakes her head, resigned to the fact that I am almost impossible to argue with about this. "Well, since you're feeling better, would you mind telling me what happened? Louise brought you down here and fell asleep before she could tell me anything."

I remember the events prior to my blacking out. "If I remember correctly, which I'm not sure I do considering my head hurts like I was just hit by a 20 ton brick, Louise was made second in line for the throne and passed out from excitement. I was carrying her over to your room so you could look over her when I ran into your dad." I wonder if I need to tell her anymore after that. It should be self explanatory considering all that's happened in my two visits here.

"Ah, he wasn't too happy about the boat was he?"

Again, there's all the proof I need as to her frightening powers. Ignoring my fear of remembering something embarrassing for her to read, I nod.

"Yep. I don't think me actually being able to land a hit on Karin did me any favors. Anyway, what time is it?"

"Almost time for dinner. Why?"

"Wake Louise up. We're going to need to have a family talk."

*Scene Break*

Okay, maybe not the best idea I ever had, considering 3/5 of the current family was not too pleased with me. 4/5 if you count Cattleya being annoyed at me for thinking she can read minds. Still, this talk had to happen.

It was a while before anyone said anything. You could cut the tension in the air using a plastic knife. Eventually, I decided to speak up and say what probably should be said.

"So, Louise, what have you told your family about your magic?" Louise starts choking on her soup... somehow, and gives me a world class mix of a death glare and complete confusion.

"S-saito. Why do you ask?" I can tell she's nervous, but doesn't her family deserve to know the truth?

"I'm just curious. Well," I say while turning to look at the rest of the family, "what did she tell you?"

The duke gives me a look of curiosity. He looks like he wants to see where this conversation will go. "She told us that her awoken element is the sinful element of fire."

I laugh. "Really Louise? Of the four elements you could have chosen, you chose fire? I would have thought you would have said water, or wind."

"Saito, do we have to tell them?" Louise whispers to me, scared. I nod.

"Why do you laugh?" asks Karin, who is also glaring at me curiously.

"Well, I never pegged Louise as one to lie to her parents like that."

Then the two of them spit out the soup they were going to have a sip of. "What? Surely you jest."

"Actually, I can see why she did. After all, you never would have believed it."

"Believed what?" by this point, I've even managed to rope Eleonore into the conversation. I give myself a mental pat on the back and continue.

"I don't think that's my place to tell you. You should probably hear it from Louise."

Louise looks at me and gives me a look that conveys the message. "Why did you dump this responsibility on me you jerk?"

She sighs and says nervously, in a quiet voice, "Void."

"What?" Is everyone's reply.

"My awoken element is that of the founder, Void magic."

Before anyone can even begin to try and discredit her, I cut in.

"I know, difficult to believe. Surely we must have some proof to this claim, right? I know you're eager to see it."

"And where is this proof?"

"Karin, would you be so kind as to cast a small tornado over the table?"

She looks at me surprised, I don't know if it's because I called her by name or because I requested such a thing, but she obliges. Louise immediately understands what I'm trying to do, and pulls out her wand. She casts dispel and the tornado glows and then disappears.

"It doesn't just work on tornados either. Using this spell, conveniently called dispel, She can even nullify the ancient magic of the elves. Louise and I were able to penetrate an elf's magical barrier and win in a fight against him thanks to this spell. It was awesome."

Everyone stares in shock. I don't know if everyone's stunned silent at the fact that Louise is a void mage, the fact that we won against an elf, or the fact that Karin's tornado was dispelled with such minimal effort. Having gotten used to events like this happening, Louise recovered quickly and went back to eating her soup. I decided to try and ignore the fact that everyone's eyes are focused solely on me and try to continue with my meal.

*Scene Break*

"I really missed this academy." I tell Louise.

After the dinner party at her manor, Louise and I were definitely given a bit more respect from the family, but I think I might have earned a little too much. I accidentally overheard Karin and the Duke talking about me, and I think I heard Karin refer to me as "Son-in-law." I guess landing a hit on one of the most feared commanding officials in history and winning against an elf is enough to get some people to want to adopt you. _I wouldn't say adopt, all things considered._

"Yeah well enjoy it. We got another few days before we head back for Albion to get Tifa." Louise says. After dinner I told her that the princess wanted us to go get Tiffania from Saxe-Gotha.

"Maybe, but still. We should at least enjoy the time we have here, right?"

She sighs. "Yeah. I'm just worried."

"About what?"

"I'm worried about the mission to get Tiffania."

"And why would that be? Its simple, go there, get Tifa, get out."

She looks at me like I'm an idiot. "You should know better than anyone, these things are never this easy." Well, she caught on quickly. "With our luck, we'll be attacked by a giant metal golem or something."

I swear, psychic powers run in her family. "Now don't be ridiculous, why would we be attacked by a giant metal man?" I try to reassure her.

"Really? You haven't figured out that I know when you're lying by this point?" Damn, she's smart.

"Right. Anyway, it's getting late, better head to sleep. Tomorrow we can recruit our own little group of friends to help out."

*Scene Break*

*Louise POV*

Siesta was a little too happy to see Saito when we got back. I reminded her of that little bet we made, and she backed off almost as quickly. The sleeping arrangements were unchanged. Saito slept on his haystack, Siesta and I slept on the bed. I was about to go to asleep when Siesta poked me.

"Miss Louise?"

"Yes Siesta?" I say while turning to face her.

"I thought of something."

I raise an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"Well, Saito has said he loves you, right?"

"Yes?" _Where is this conversation going?_

"Do you promise not to hurt me if I say it?"

"Just spit it out already!" I really don't have that much patience about these things.

"Well, what if he's only like that because he's your familiar?"

I honestly feel like my stomach was hit by a bag of bricks.

"You know, aren't familiars conditioned to love their masters? What if he only loves you because he's your familiar?"

I can't come up with a reply to that. _No,_ I think to myself. _That can't be. I refuse to believe that._

Siesta seems to realize that she said something she probably shouldn't have. "I-I'm not saying that's what it is! J-just a possibility." She turns over and falls asleep.

I never got to sleep that night. _What if Saito does only love me because he's a familiar? What would I do then?_

I probably should have though of asking him about it, but it made no sense to ask him. He always tries to tell me things the way I would like to hear them, so he would just deny it. I just didn't know what to do.

*Scene Break*

*Saito POV*

My first clue that something was wrong when I woke up was that Louise was lying down in the corner of the room furthest from me, curled into a ball. I don't know when she went there, or why, but there she was. The second clue was that her eyes were puffy, and it looked like there were dried tears on her cheeks.

"Louise? What's wrong?"

Her response was to shut her eyes and turn away from me. I also think I heard her start crying again.

"Okay, seriously, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Right, crawling into the corner of the room furthest away from everybody, curling yourself into a ball and crying when someone asks what's wrong is completely normal."

She responds by doing what looks like trying to will herself into nonexistence to avoid any attempt at conversation.

I sigh, "Okay, I'll let you be like that, considering I don't think there's anything I can do to help. I'll got ask around, see if anyone wants to come with us to Saxe-Gotha." I get up and leave the room.

*Scene Break*

"So this is where that elf lives?" asks Guiche.

"Unless she was abducted by ninjas, then yes." I tell him.

"What's a ninja?"

"Badass, something you'll never be."

I was only able to get Kirche, Tabitha, and Guiche to come with us to Saxe-Gotha. Then again, they were the only ones I asked so I can't really complain. Louise remained unresponsive throughout the entire trip.

"I have to ask, what did you do to Louise? She's been silent the whole trip."

"Oh, Saito did something to Louse, did he?" Kirche says in a tone that's trying to be seductive.

"No. I didn't do anything. I woke up and she was in the corner of the room, curled in a ball. I tried asking what was wrong, but she just started crying."

Kirche and Guiche give me a confused look. "Why would she do that?"

"Well of course I know, I just happen to like Louise like this so I'm not doing anything on purpose." I reply in as best a mix of deadpan and sarcasm as I can muster.

"That was sarcasm, right?" asks Guiche.

"Very astute Guiche! Anyway, we're here. I'll knock."

I knock and open the door. I'm greeted by the sight of Tiffania and Fouquet having a nice tea party. Fouquet notices me first.

"Ah, hello there Saito. How have you been?"

"Pretty good, how about you Mathilda?" I reply in a friendly manner. No point in malice, even if we were enemies, last time we met, I helped her, and she helped me. I'd say that made us allies.

"Mathilda, you know Saito?" Tiffania seems confused that we know each other.

Then the rest of my group walks in. Except Louise, she just kind of drags herself through the door. Their eyes widen in surprise when they see Fouquet and I having a civil discussion.

"Fouquet!" They draw their wands, I hold up a hand.

"Don't worry, she's a friend."

"S-saito, didn't you say you killed her?" Louise says.

I'm shocked that Louise actually managed to talk, but I ignore that for now. "Yeah, I SAID that. She helped me out a bit back during the Wardes incident, so I told Wardes she died so he wouldn't go after her and finish her off for real."

"W-what are you all talking about?" I forgot that Tiffania is still in the room.

"Don't worry, its nothing." Says Fouquet.

"So Mathilda, what brings you out here?"

"Saito, who's Mathilda?" asks Louise.

"Fouquet was an alias. My real name is Mathilda. And to answer your question, I'm here visiting my sister."

Everyone's shocked but me. Sometimes I forget just how awesome it can be to know everything in advance.

"But enough about me, what are you doing here?"

"Well, we're here to bring Tiffania to Tristain."

Tiffania gasps. "W-what?"

"You said you always wanted to see the outside world, right? The princess asked us to bring you and the orphans back to Tristain." I tell her.

Tiffania looks shocked, and turns to Fouquet.

"Personally, I think you should go with them Tifa."

"Eh?" Is everyone's, except me, reply.

"Saito's right, you always wanted to go place other than here, and this is your chance. Besides, I'm broke. I can't send you the money you need to run this place any longer. I say go with them."

Tiffania nods. "Alright, I'll go with you to Tristain."

I blink. "That was easy."

"I'll pack my things and we can all leave tomorrow. You don't mind staying a night do you?"

Nobody minds, so we all decide to stay here for the night.

*Scene Break*

We all slept basically wherever we felt like. Fouquet left a while ago, so it was just me, near comatose Louise, Guiche, Kirche, Tabitha, and Tiffania in the house. I was sleeping on what some would consider a coach, but I woke up when I heard a sort of creaking noise.

I bolted upright and saw Louise pacing back and forth. Perfect, now maybe I could steal some information out of her.

"Okay Louise, start talking. What's keeping you down?"

She eeps when she hears me but calms down quickly.

"N-nothing." It might just be the moonlight, or something, but I think I see tears.

I sigh. "Okay Louise, stop screwing with us. We can tell something's got you down. You only spoke when we saw Mathilda, and you try to avoid me as much as possible. You will tell me what's the matter." I might have gotten a bit too angry, but she was really starting to annoy me with this whole silent treatment.

She looks down at the floor, where apparently someone wrote the meaning of life on that spot. That's the only reason I can come up with for staring at it so intently.

I hear Louise whisper, but she's so quiet I can't make out the words.

"Speak up please, I can't hear you."

"Do you love me?" again, she's so quiet I can barely hear her.

I raise an eyebrow. "Haven't I already mentioned that? Several times? I really don't see where doubt like that could come from." As is usual for me, I completely miss her original point and think she's talking about something else entirely.

She shakes her head angrily. "No, do you really love me? Are those your real feelings?"

Then what she's saying clicks in my head, which I promptly put in my hands. "God, not this conversation again."

"Are your feeling really yours? Or are they just some illusion created by the familiar contract?" She's almost yelling at me by this point.

"Now let me ask you, how could a familiar contract possibly affect my thought process?" I already know that it can and does, but she doesn't. Hopefully we could keep it that way.

"False motive." Says a voice coming from the shadows. _Of course that was asking too much._

"Thank you Tabitha, I wanted her to know that information."

"What? What false motive?" Louise asks, scared at what this could mean.

I sigh, "Should you tell her or should I?" Tabitha points to me with her cane.

"Okay for familiars, when the contract is formed, a false motive is placed into their mind. It's basically something that messes with the mind of the familiar to make them want to stay with their Master."

"Th-then everything y-you said..." She breaks down into tears and curls into a ball on the floor.

I turn to Tabitha. "See Tabitha? This is why I didn't want her to know about this. It gives her the wrong idea."

"Wrong idea?" Tabitha almost looks confused. That's got to be a first.

"I don't have a false motive, I took care of that a long time ago."

"How?" Now she does look confused. Louise is still sobbing, so I doubt she's hearing a word of this conversation.

"Sheer force of will and knowledge of what the motive was doing." Not a lie, okay it was a lie but still, what was I supposed to tell her? That Tiffania from the future used her void magic to screw with my memories? I highly doubt that would work. I also doubt that telling them a voice in my head said I don't have a false motive would work either.

"What's going on? Why's Louise crying?" Perfect, Guiche and Kirche have shown up.

"In a nutshell, she thinks that everything I've done up to this point is because of the familiar's false motive that is imprinted when a contract is formed to make them want to stay with their master."

They don't look like they understand, but they nod.

"Well, that does make sense. But how do we get rid of your false motive and get you back to normal to make Louise feel better?" asks Guiche.

By this point I'm really starting to get annoyed at these people. "I don't have a false motive! I took care of that a long time ago!"

"What? How?" Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to a bunch of parrots and broken records.

"Force of will, but does that really matter at the moment?"

"That doesn't seem likely." Kirche points out.

"Seriously? You people too? I do not have a false motive!"

"And how do you know?" Louise has finally stopped crying, but she still sounds really close to breaking down at the drop of a pin.

"What?"

"If you have a false motive, how would you know? It's implanted in your mind seamlessly so you can stay. It wouldn't work if you knew that the thoughts were false, so how do you know you don't have a false motive?"

At this point I'm beyond angry and have arrived at furious. "Really? Really people? Why don't any of you trust me? I will repeat it for you one more time. I DO NOT HAVE A FALSE MOTIVE!"

"I know how to find out." Louise seems to have moved past nearly broken and has become deadly serious. It takes a second before I realize what she's saying.

"Really? You're going to have Tiffania use her spell to wipe the nonexistent motive? What are you aiming for, the day we made the contract? That'll just wipe the memory of the day because I do not have a false motive!" By this point I'm close to having a psychological breakdown.

"Louise, are you sure you want me to do this?" Everyone's head whips around and we see Tiffania standing in the hallway.

"Um... How long were you standing there?" I ask her.

"I heard the whole conversation. I think if Saito is having a memory problem, we should fix it."

"You're kidding me." Kirche grabs my left arm, and Guiche grabs my right arm.

"You're really going through with this aren't you?" They all nod.

I laugh. "Perfect! Just perfect! I've just stopped caring! Hit me! Wipe my supposed false motive! Like I said, nothing will happen!" I sound like a madman, but I don't care. I just want them to at least believe me.

_Huh, I wonder what will happen when she tries to wipe a nonexistent memory?_ My inner monologue wonders before I get hit by the spell and black out.

*Scene Break*

When I woke up I was lying on a bed. _Wow, I think this is the first time you've woke up on a bed after passing out, and it wasn't from blood,_ my inner monologue notes.

I looked and saw Tabitha looking at me.

"Let me guess, they went ahead and left you to make sure I was alright?"

She nods. "Any change?"

Out of curiosity I rack my brain for every detail and see if anything's different.

"Well, I was right. Nothing happened. I remember everything as it was, I didn't forget anything I hadn't already forgotten, and my impressions of everyone still hasn't changed." And the annoying inner monologue is still there, unfortunately. _I am not annoying!_

She nods like she expected this. I'm glad someone believed me. Then I feel an itch in my left eye and my vision starts going fuzzy.

"Perfect, They must be in danger. Again." I close my right eye and survey the scene through Louise's eye. It looks like my old friend the Jormungand is back and is trying to kill the group. The Jormungand is a giant steel golem with an ancient magic counter on it, making it very difficult to destroy. They're about 500 feet tall, incredibly fast, and they're all armed with a giant metal swords that are capable of slicing through mountains with almost no effort. I've killed about 11 with the help of Louise and a tank, but it was hard work.

I look at Tabitha, and she nods. It's always nice to just look at someone and they already know what you're going to ask. We walked out of the orphanage, jumped on Slyphid and we took off after Louise and everyone.

It took fives minutes before we reached our destination, but the Golem was in view within two. I saw Louise point her wand at the Golem and try to cast something, but it didn't look like anything was coming out. _Perfect, her magic always picks the best time to crap out._

The Golem sees her and raises its leg. I jump off Slyphid, who was only about 20 feet from the ground anyway, and run towards Louise, Derflinger in hand to give me an extra boost of speed, I grab Louise and jump out of the way as the golem's giant foot comes down. I get us onto a cliff overlooking the battle and set her down. The Jormungand may be huge and as fast as a human, but we still look like insects and can easily be missed.

"S-Saito..." She sounds completely surprised that I bother to show up at all. I don't really blame her.

"You were right, our luck really is terrible."

"W-what are you doing here! You're free! You have no reason to stay! You don't have anything in your mind telling you what to do anymore!"

My anger on the subject having dissipated, I chuckle. "Did you really never consider that I had gone through this already and that my mind was cleared of any false motive a long time ago?"

She blushes. "T-then-"

"Yes, none of you believed me even though I was telling the truth."

She hangs her head ashamed, but realizes we have much more pressing matters to take care of. "We'll talk later! How do we take this thing out?"

"Well, that's the tricky part. How's your magic holding up?"

"I-its gone. All my willpower's been used up and I can't cast anymore."

"Well that sucks." I don't really see a need to react to the situation in any other way.

"H-how can you act so calm! The only thing that can cut through that golem's barrier is my magic, and I can't use it!" Good, she noticed that that it had counter on.

"I can't do anything anymore!" Then she starts crying. "I'm just Louise the Zero again."

Then Tabitha comes in. "Than I'll take him."

"What?" Louise just sounds saddened by this point. I'm too shocked to say anything so I don't. That and I already know that Tabitha's figured out how to give Louise's willpower a charge.

"If you can't do anything, then I'll protect him from now on." I blink. That was the longest sentence I ever head Tabitha say. Before I can respond, she walks up to me, and pulls my lips to hers.

*Louise POV*

"W-W-w-what?" I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was going to lose Saito. I was losing him and there was nothing I could do about it.

_Saito, don't leave me._ I could do nothing but cry, _Saito, don't leave me!_

I felt a warmth in my chest but I didn't care. I was losing my familiar, the only person I'd ever loved, and I couldn't do a thing about it, my magic wasn't working, and Saito probably hated me now for not believing him about the false motive. I was feeling very depressed at the moment.

"Nooo!"

"Now!" Tabitha said. "Void spells!"

I realized that the warmth was my willpower having recharged somehow. I turn to the Golem and chant explosion. I put everything I have into this one spell, and I lower my wand. A bright light appeared in the middle of the golem, small at first, but it kept expanding. Then the entire golem exploded. I feel drowsy and I feel myself start to collapse. Before I hit the ground I feel someone's arms supporting me.

"Saito." Then I black out.

*Scene Break*

*Saito POV*

After Louise cast that void spell, I made sure she didn't take too hard a fall. I was going to bring her back to the carriage so we could head back, but our luck is never that good. Tabitha had already gone to round up the others, leaving me alone with the unconscious Louise, when I heard a voice.

"Amazing, her void can even stop the Jormungand! She truly is a terrifying mage!" says a familiar voice.

"Myoznitnirm, how nice of you to join the party. I take it you came for me to kick your ass?"

"I came to observe, but if you want a battle, I'll gladly give you one!"

"Then how about this, no weapons. A plain fist fight, no one has any advantages, or disadvantages. Sound fair?" I was still really pissed at Myoz for kidnapping Louise a while back, and I really wanted to let off some steam. I would definitely enjoying beating her much more than simply slicing at her while she runs away.

"Fool! You are nothing without your Gandalfar powe- urf!" I used my best strategy, interrupting the power mad villain by punching them in the stomach while they were talking.

At that point I punch her in the face and she fell to the ground.

"Still think I'm nothing? Then how about I beat you into the dirt that spawned you?"

I mount her and start punching her face again and again. I didn't intend to cave her skull in and kill her, or even leave any permanent damage, I just really needed punching bag at the moment. I kept punching her again and again for what felt like a solid minute. Eventually, I ran out of energy and couldn't punch her anymore. She was unconscious, but alive. I got up, picked up Louise, and walked away. I knew it would take more than what I did to kill her, and I was counting on her coming back stronger. I did feel a lot better though. I really, really needed to hit something.

*Scene Break*

*Louise POV*

I woke up on my bed back at the academy.

"Louise, thank god you're awake. Just to let you know, you overdid it with that explosion and you've been out for four days." I see Saito is sitting next to me. Siesta isn't there, so I assume Saito sent her out or something.

I immediately pull Saito into as tight a hug as I can.

"Idito, idiot! Why do you keep making me worry like this?" I start crying but I don't really care by this point.

"What are you talking about? You were making me worry! You could have killed yourself from exerting that much energy!"

I stop crying for a minute when I remember something. "Now explain, what was that you were doing with Tabitha?"

"Well, the quickest way to recharge void willpower is emotions, any emotions. Tabitha figured that out and decided that the quickest way to do that was jealousy."

"And how did she know this?" I say, the doubt in my voice obvious.

He shrugged, "I asked her and she said that Derflinger told her. Does that really matter at the moment? Can't we just be glad that you're alive?"

I remember that the metal golem nearly killed me, but Saito saved me. Even when I doubted him and didn't listen to him, he still came back to save me. That was all the proof I needed that his feeling weren't that of any type of magic. I started to cry again. I don't even know why. Saito pats my head and gives me a hug.

"Its okay Louise, everything's fine know, right?"

I shake my head. "No, not yet. There's something I need to do first." Before he can reply, I press my lips to his. I have to admit, he's getting better at not being surprised when I do this. I collapse against him and we fall onto the bed, our lips never breaking contact. Eventually I stop. I think for a minute, then I steel my resolve. Last time will not be repeated again. I start undoing the buttons on my shirt.

"W-w-what are you doing?" Saito asks me, his face probably redder than mine.

"I-its hot out." I'm too embarrassed to even offer anything more than that. But I've already made my decision. I'm not backing out like last time.

I finish unbuttoning my shirt and shrug it off. My skirt follows it, and they both find themselves in a corner of the room. I'm only wearing my camisole and panties, and I can't believe what I'd doing. I try to think of something to stop me from thinking about what I'm doing and backing out again and I kiss Saito again. That was exactly what I needed, and all previous worries leave my mind. Inhibitions gone, my camisole and panties join the rest of the pile. I help Saito out of his jacket, and then his shirt. It's not long before everything else is in that pile in the corner of the room.

I was happy beyond measure. Saito was mine, mine alone, and would be with me forever. We could get officially married in a few months. We'd get a nice big house and live together. We could decorate it with all sorts of fancy furniture and decorations. I could almost see our future playing out before my eyes. The night was absolutely perfect and nothing could change that.


	17. Elf

Author Notes:

Bonus chapter! Yeah this chapter is based off of the fanservice novel, as volume 12 has become known as. This is a bonus chapter because it was something I wrote more for fun than anything. Next up is the epilogue, and then the story is done! Read, review, leave feedback, and enjoy the story!

16.5: Elf

Okay, I really wasn't expecting Louise to offer THAT, and I certainly wasn't expecting for her to get that far. After the fifth time we almost got that far only for nothing to happen, I resigned myself to the fact that I will never get any, ever. I guess I was wrong. Doing my best to avoid talking about what had happened, I kept some distance from Louise. The whole situation was a little awkward to talk about. I began having some sword fighting spars with Guiche and the rest of the knights of the water spirit to take my mind off of it.

I noticed that Tiffania wasn't doing a good job of socializing. Everyone seemed to really like her, but she was just too nervous to be friendly back. I noticed that there was this one group of girls who really seemed to hate her for some reason. I tried talking with Louise to see if we should do something, but she thought it would be better if we let them be. I called her and idiot and stormed out.

_Okay, maybe you're the idiot for yelling at her. All that accomplished was hurting Louise's feeling. Congratulations, you made an underaged girl cry... again. And after all that happened last night. Does it just no occur to you that maybe she's just jealous that you're thinking about Tiffania? _My inner monologue just loves mocking me when I make bad choices. _Wait, you're not just upsetting her on purpose for the make up sex, are you? _'Seriously? You think I would do something like that?' _... Yes. _'Why don't you have an off switch?'

Nothing really happens until a few days later. I noticed that a rather large crowd of people was gathered in the courtyard. _Already? That was quick_. I had tossed my time stream cheat sheet into the nearest trash can a while back since I never really used it, so I couldn't confirm. I pushed my way through the crowd to see what the commotion was about. In the middle was a large pot of boiling water, a hatless Tiffania, and the ring leader of those girls who were bullying her.

"What the hell's going on here?" Not much point in formalities when someone's about to get boiled alive, right?

The ring leader looks at me. "Isn't it obvious? We're having an inquisition! We're testing whether this elf really believes in Brimir, like she says she does."

"And the boiling water is for?"

"If she truly believes in Brimir, the water will feel just right, if she doesn't then she gets boiled alive. Simple, right?" I can't remember her name, but I remember how much I hated her.

"And who exactly are you to do this?" I'm being completely honest. All I remember about her is that she did this inquisition. She never really did anything after that.

She glared at me. "You really don't know?"

I pound my fist into my palm. "I remember! You're that spoiled brat from the Guldenhorf family! Beatrice, right?"

Her glare gets even worse after that. "And who are you to talk to me that way!"

"Me? I'm Saito Chevalier de Hiraga, The one who held back the army of 70,000 during the war with Albion, commanding officer of the Ondine Knights of the Water Spirit, and Familiar of Louise Vallière. I also formed a contract with the water spirit herself after I retrieved her ancient artifact, the Ring of Andvarri. I beat an elf that was keeping the princess of Gallia hostage in a fight, though Louise helped me with that one." I can't help but grin as I say this. I forgot just how good it can feel to brag every once in a while. Beatrice's face didn't help either. It grew paler with each accomplishment I mentioned, as did most of the crowds.

"W-what? V-Vallière's f-f-familiar? What?"

"By the way, regarding that pot, did you actually test it to make sure believers could survive, or did you just heat the pot up with the intent of killing Tiffania?"

"I-I..." Than her face regains that arrogance from earlier. "So, you're willing to stop an inquisition? We can have you burned at the stake for treason you know?"

I chuckle to myself. "Do you have permission from a bishop?"

Her face paled. "I-it's at my family's house."

It's my turn to glare at her. "Really? I think you're lying. Besides, you also need an approval form from the church of Romalia. It looks to me you just took the founder's name and are using it to torture a girl you don't like." I silently thank Louise for mentioning all this last time. I had committed it to memory just in case I needed it down the road. Looks like it paid off.

At that, the crowd broke into jeers and protest and Beatrice broke down. She fell to her knees and began crying her eyes out. Tiffania approached her.

"Well, Tiffania? I think you have a right to do whatever you want to her." I tell her. The crowd falls silent.

Tiffania holds out her hand to Beatrice.

"Let's be friends, alright?" Beatrice looks at Tiffania, and nods, tears still in her eyes.

"Just to let everyone know, Tiffania's not full elf, her father was human," I tell the crowd.

Apparently that's more than enough reason for the entire student body to charge Tifa and start trying to be her friend. I try to calm everyone down, and then I get caught up in the bull rush and get trampled.

*Scene Break*

I woke up in the medical clinic, my head hurts, my arm's in a sling, and I can't feel the left side of my face.

"Oh yeah, the stampede after the inquisition was stopped." Last time I wound up here, it was because of a huge fight that broke out between the students and Beatrice's bodyguards. At least those injuries held some dignity. This was just embarrassing. I heard footsteps coming towards my little area and the curtain opened, showing Tiffania.

"Why hello there Tiffania, how are you doing? Because I got stepped on by about 50 people." I really shouldn't be this angry, it wasn't her fault, but I was still sour about the whole thing.

Her response is to hang her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't know they would all be so eager to talk to me."

"It's fine, I don't blame you. If anything its my fault for not getting out of there."

"S-sorry, but I have a request for you."

"And what's that?" If it was what I thought it was then...

"C-could you feel these," she points to her chest, "and tell me if they're real?"

CRAP.

"W-what!"

She blushes. "It's just that... Everyone asks me if they're real or not, even the headmaster. I... I just thought that you would know."

_Think of an excuse quick! We can't let this happen again!_ My inner monologue seems desperate to get me out of this. "Um... well, d-don't you think it would be better to ask a girl?" _Nice, real nice. _Shut up inner monologue.

"I guess so."

"Yeah! I don't know anything about that, go ask Louise or Kirche or someone." Anyone, as long as it's not me! Luckily at that moment, Louise and Siesta decide to drop by.

"Louise! Tiffania here wants someone to feel her chest to see if their's anything unnatural about it. I managed to convince her to ask someone who's not me to do it so please, start groping this elf's chest!" Then I blink. That was not a sentence I thought I would ever say. Everyone else seems surprised by this too, and I don't blame them.

Louise turns to Tiffania. "Is that true? You were asking him to grab your b-b-b-breasts?" She's visibly flustered, I'm not sure if it's because of what I just finished saying or something else entirely.

Tiffania nods, clearly embarrassed, "Y-yes. Everyone keeps asking me if they're real or not so I wanted someone to let me know if they were unusual."

I decide I want nothing to do with this conversation so I get up, undo my bandages and cast, and walk away.

"I'll let you three figure things out. This is a conversation I'd be very happy if you kept me out of."

*Scene Break*

I was really glad I was able to dodge the bullet that time. I have no idea what this Louise, who I can only assume has a lot of built up anger, would do if she caught me groping Tifa, what with all that's happened up to this point. I shudder at the thought, and try to stop thinking about it. The whole situation became another one where those involved vowed to never speak about, so hopefully It'll be forgotten pretty quickly.

In the interest of doing just that, I began taking midnight strolls again. One time I went into the Alviss dining hall and rescued a poor Alviss that was stuck underneath a vase that had fallen. She thanked me and went to join her friends.

I also began training with the knights even more. Some alarms went off in my head about this, but I don't know what they could be for. I remember when they dragged me into a cave and told me they have something to cheer me up.

"Cheer me up?" I really don't see why I need to be cheered up.

"Well, you've been really silent, and you've been doing almost nothing but training. We thought that maybe something was upsetting you, so we have something to cheer you up," Explains Reynal.

Guiche, Malicorne, Reynal, and that other guy who's name escapes me, lead me through a dark tunnel, whose destination I know all too well, to the point of amnesia being forced upon me by Louise after it so I remembered only that it happened, not what I saw.

Eventually we reached the end of the tunnel and the four of them used their magic to poke a hole in the wall. They motioned that I should be the first to check it out and I oblige. On the other side is what most men would consider paradise, the women's baths. Almost the entire female student body is there right now, wearing only towels. Luckily Louise and Tiffania aren't there yet, or I would have had a much harder time pulling myself away from the wall.

"You decided to peak on the girl's bath?" I try my best to suppress me anger at how indecent this is. Sure I enjoyed the view last time, and I still do, but experience has taught me that these kinds of things only lead to pain.

They all nod. "Isn't it great!"

"Of course, but I wouldn't want to enjoy it all to myself, someone else go." I move away from the wall and I see them all try to go for it at once. I lean against a wall, close my eyes and try to decide on a course of action.

"Hey, look there!"

"Where?"

"Next to Louise, isn't that Tiffania?"

At the mention of Louise my eyes shoot open. _Aw, how sweet. The man doesn't want his lover seen by anyone else. You have my sincerest congratulations for that._

Seconds before I start my attempts on the lives of the knights, I decide on a better choice of action. I punch them all in the face hard enough to knock them unconscious.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I yell loud enough for anyone on the other side to hear me. I intend to drag them out and leave them to the vultures, or blood thirsty girls as the case may be. I grab them by their collars and begin to drag them outside, but halfway through the tunnel I feel a strong wind and all five of us get swept out. The four of them land on the ground outside the hole, but I go flying towards the Alviss dining hall.

"What just happened?"

"Close your eyes," comes a familiar voice. I oblige.

"Let me guess, you recognized it was me who yelled at the peepers and cast that wind spell, didn't you Tabitha?"

"Yes."

"Damn, your fast. I didn't think anyone would be able to get dressed, get into the dining hall and cast such a powerful spell so quickly."

"I didn't." What? But then...

"Oh... That's why my eyes are closed."

"Yes." Yeah, Tabitha skipped the getting dressed part. I was alone in dining hall with a very naked Tabitha. Well, that's just great.

"Well, thank you for helping me." Then she pushes me against a wall and put a finger to my lips.

"I'm telling you, they ran past here!" Comes one of the female students.

"Ugh, I can't believe Guiche would be so perverted!" Says Montmorency.

Luckily I'm so scared of being discovered that my mind doesn't register that Tabitha is naked and pushing me up against a wall. Otherwise, I would have passed out from nasal blood loss for about the sixth time. Eventually the two voices leave and we're alone once again.

"Well thank you Tabitha, that was close." Then I hear what I assume is one of the Alviss accidentally knock over a pot, and Tabitha tenses.

"Ghost," and then she faints. I'm alone with an underaged, naked, unconscious girl, and people are wanted for peeping on the girls bath. This image isn't bound to get me killed at all! _You just can't help but get the lolis naked, can you? _'You know what?' _What? _'Shut up.'

Being careful not to look, I take off my parka and put it over Tabitha. I head out for the center of the dining hall. I lie down and just look at the moon through the skylight, wondering what I should do next. Eventually I hear footsteps.

"Saito?"

"Hello Louise, How'd you know I'd be here?" I say while sitting up to look at her. Luckily for me, she's decided to get fully dressed instead of just throwing on a bathrobe.

"I saw the moon through your eyes." Hmm... Apparently she could see through my eyes. I'd have to figure out the specifics behind it later.

"I take it this isn't just a friendly visit?"

She nods. "You were there when they were peeping, weren't you?" Great job Louise! Right to the point!

I sigh. "Yep. Would you like an explanation as to why?" She nods. "Apparently I've been too serious, so the other knights felt as though they should do something to cheer me up. I didn't remember that what that something was peeping on the girl's bath. You from the past made sure that I remember nothing from the event," I say while rubbing my head.

She nods, then blushes. "H-how much did you see?" Weird, she's asking me if I saw her taking a bath? All things considered I don't see much of a problem with it, but it's best I don't anger her.

"I didn't see anything. I don't know what the other saw, but once they mentioned that you were there, I decided it would be best to ruin their day."

She sighs in what I assume is relief. I decide to bring up that Tabitha is right behind us wearing only my jacket, but Tabitha beats me too it. She sits up, and my jacket falls off her. Louise gives me a death glare. _You're so screwed man. _'Thanks for the encouragement.'

"Saito," I chill goes down my spine when I hear Louise's death voice, "since you are so good with explanations, I will give you a chance to explain why Tabitha is naked and wearing your jacket."

I'm almost too scared to speak, but I have to or I'll be dead within seconds. "W-Well, Tabitha heard me yell at the knights, and she used her tornado to pull them out of the hole, and me into the dining hall. She didn't have time to get dressed, and she passed out when she thought she heard a ghost, so I put my jacket on her." I close my eyes and prepare to be utterly killed.

"All right, then lets get her some clothes." I sigh in relief. I get to add yet another day to my "Days gone by without Louise making an attempt on my life" streak.

*Scene Break*

I never realized how much my ability to stop people cold with logic helped me. After the bath incident, Louise didn't punish me, considering I didn't see anything and was pulled into it unknowingly. The rest of the guys weren't as lucky. They were going to be expelled, but I was able to convince the school to instead put them on weeding duty for about three years, give or take.

I was simply sitting around in Louise's room, waiting for something to happen when Siesta showed up.

"Saito, where's Louise?"

"She went to town to get some supplies. She actually should have been back by now." I don't know what supplies she needs, or for what, but that's what she told me, and she insisted that I stay here.

"Oh! Well, then do you want a drink?"

What's she planning? "Sure. Why not."

She walks out, and I decide to follow her, to be on the safe side. She goes to the kitchen and grabs too bottles. She pours wine into both of them, and then she pulls out a small bottle from her pocket.

"And may I ask what you were doing with that bottle?"

She yelps and drops the bottle, which rolls away. I don't bother going after it, it can't be anything too deadly, right? Then I remembered what it was, but I still let it roll. No one's going to be stupid enough to drink from an unmarked bottle, right? _Never underestimate human stupidity._

"Saito! I-I was um... I can't think of anything." She hangs her head in shame. Not everyone shares my uncanny ability to pull a lie out of thin air and have it sound believable.

"Than what were you doing?"

"Love potion." She says sheepishly.

I blink. "You do realize those are illegal, right?"

She nods.

"And you do know that Louise won that bet, right?"

She gasps. "You did hear us!"

"Actually no, I heard about it from Louise afterwards." I almost smile when I realize that this actually is the complete truth, even if I did leave out that it was the Louise from my time, but still, points for me.

"At any rate, don't worry about it. I'm sure absolutely no negative side effects will occur from this one event. After all, who would be stupid enough to drink from an unmarked bottle, and it's not like the effects of the potion spread whenever someone who drank it kisses someone!"

As if some divine force screws with my memory at will, I had forgotten that the situation I just said is exactly what happens. Its proven when Monrmorency, Louise (Who came back just in time from her errands), Kirche, Tabitha, and every girl from the charming fairy inn burst through the door chasing Tiffania. Sometimes I should really just shut my mouth and not say anything.

"Well, I guess I'm a complete idiot who should never open his mouth."

Siesta and I just stare at the scene in front of us. None of them seem to notice we're there, which I am extremely thankful for. The whole group continues making out with each other for the next several minutes. Before it can get worse, the potion's effects appear to wear off. Everyone stops and just looks around until they remember what happened.

"I'm scared to ask, but did what I think happen, just happen?" Asks Louise.

I decide to let them know that we're here. "If what you think happened was all of you getting drunk on love potion and making out with each other, than yes. That's what happened."

Louise blushes when she sees me. "S-Saito! S-Siesta! H-how long were you standing there?"

"We've been here since before the incident began. In fact, Siesta here is what caused it. The love potion fell out of her pocket and rolled away. I ignored it because I didn't know what it was. I assume one of you found it, fell under its effects, then spread it to everyone else."

"Siesta! Why did you have a love potion!" Why is Louise the only one saying anything?

"I gave it to her to use on Saito. I didn't think this would happen," says Jessica.

"Well, that clears everything up. Besides, it looks like everyone had fun. And why did I say that?" I soon as I finish that sentence, I'm immediately jumped by everyone present, who all begin beating the crap out of me. _Let me repeat once more. YOU ARE AN IDIOT! I thought being from the future was supposed to help you AVOID these situations!_ My inner monologue is a real dick sometimes. This whole situation is the one time I want to black out, but it never happens. I get to experience every second of a group of angry women beating the living crap out of me.

After a while, they either tire out, decide they've had their fill, or worry that they went to far when they see the small lump of flesh that used to be me. They all leave except for Louise and Siesta. I just lie there pathetically.

"S-sorry. We might have gotten carried away." At least Louise has the decency to apologize.

"Its fine. I deserved it. I'm going go back to the room and sleep it off. One last thing before I do."

"Yes?"

"Stay away from the wine. Please." I get up and limp off towards Louise's room.

*Louise POV*

"What did he mean by that?" Saito usually has a reason for his actions, but why would he want me to stay away from the wine?

"Louise?"

"Yes, Siesta?" I'm not really upset, I'm more disappointed that she didn't honor the deal, and that she resorted to such under-handed tactics.

"I'm sorry. If I had just upheld my end of the bargain this wouldn't have happened."

"Its fine. Come on, have a drink and forget about it." I decide Saito was just messing with me. What harm could come from one glass of wine? Siesta pours the wine into two glasses, and we toast, and drink the wine.

"Louise, weren't these glasses of wine mixed up in the scuffle?" Then her expressions changes from scared, to half asleep.

_Oh. This is what he meant. I should listen to him next time._

"Siesta, have you always been this cute? Your maid outfit is sickeningly adorable."

"Louise, you're soooo cute! I could just eat you up!"

To keep a long, embarrassing story short, not long after that, me and Siesta were naked on the floor, licking cream off each other. Next time I will listen to Saito, no matter how stupid the warning sounds.


	18. Epilogue

Author Notes:

Here we are, the final chapter! Okay, maybe not the final chapter because once I can continue the story, I intend to do so. Don't hold your breath on it though. It'll be a long time before this story gets any additions.

Finally, as a sort of celebration for reaching 10,000 hits (not all that big of an accomplishment in the long run, but still), check the end of this chapter for a little something. Read, review, leave feedback, and enjoy the story!

Epilogue

A man and a woman were walking down the aisle of a church. The woman was wearing a long white dress, and a white mantle. She had long pink hair coming out from under a white veil. Though it had only been a few years, she had managed to grow an inch or two taller, much to her delight. On her left hand was a purple ring that many people noticed immediately.

The man was wearing what could only be described as a tuxedo. Unlike the girl, he had remained much the same throughout the few years between their meeting and today. There was not much one would notice about the man, except for the runes that were engraved on his left hand, marking him as the familiar of the woman walking next to him.

The two were not alone in the church. Sitting in the rows were a bunch of people one who lived there might not have expected to ever see together. Among them was a short blue haired girl who wore glasses, and a crown upon her head. To her left was a taller girl with longer, dark blue hair. To the girl's right was a dark skinned girl with red hair.

"Oh, are you upset that you lost him Tabitha?" The red haired girl asked teasingly.

Her response was to blush slightly and bury her face in a book. "Of course not."

Also in attendance were another man and woman, both with blonde hair. In between the two of them sat a small child looking around, examining everyone in attendance with a childlike curiosity.

"It's hard not to feel happy for them, isn't it?" The man asked his wife.

She nodded while trying to keep their kid from walking off on his own. "Yeah, but it sure took them long enough. How many times did we have to tell them to just get on with it?"

The man puts a hand to his chin and ponders. "Too many."

One thing odd about the whole scenario was not something that was present at the ceremony, but something that wasn't. The man and women walking down the aisle had a personal maid, who they considered one of their closest friends, who had declined to come, giving no reason as to why.

The man and woman walking down the aisle reached the end of it where another woman, this time with long brown purple hair and a regal crown on her head, awaits the two of them.

"Shall we begin the ceremony?" The purple haired woman asks.

The man and woman both nod.

The purple haired woman smiles. "Bridegroom, Saito Chevalier De Hiraga Des Ornières. Do you take this girl as your wife, and swear to respect and love her in the name of the Founder Brimir?"

Saito smiles and nods, "I swear."

The purple haired girl turns to the woman next to him. "Bride, the third daughter of the Duke de La Vallière, Louise Chevalier Françoise le Blanc de La Vallière. Do you take this man as your husband, and swear to respect and love him in the name of the Founder Brimir?"

Louise nods her head before the sentence is even finished. "Yes, I swear."

The queen nods her head and smiles. "Then by the royal family blood that flows within me, in the name of the founder Brimir, I name you husband and wife. You may kiss-"

Before the queen could even finish her statement, Louise already had her arms around Saito's neck and pulled him in for a kiss, much to the amusement of everyone in attendance.

Once the two broke the kiss the queen cleared her throat to get their attention.

"This is more of a casual question, friend to friend, but are you keeping your name or taking his, Louise?"

Louise ponders for a second. "I'll take his."

The queen smiles. "Very well Louise Chevalier de Hiraga Des Ornières. Congratulations, you are now a married women."

The people in attendance could almost see the happy glow coming off of the couple. Saito and Louise thanked the princess and walked back down the aisle hand in hand to congratulations from all their friends.

*Scene Break*

When they got back to their home they noticed that it was rather empty. They found a note saying that the maids had gone to do some errands and that they wouldn't be back until late that night.

"I never thought she'd take losing so hard," Louise says to herself.

"Well, its not like she ever really had a chance."

Louise gave Saito a mischievous grin. "Oh, really? What about that time in Albion during the war back in your time?"

A blush appeared on Saito's face. "Th-that was-"

"I know, I'm just teasing."

Saito breathes a sigh of relief.

"Hey Saito?"

"Yes Louise?"

"Have you ever thought of having kids?"

Author Conclusion:

That little something I mentioned? Here it is. Have a sneak peek of my next story _The Crimson Familiar._

*Sneak Peek*

My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, the third daughter of Duke de la Vallière, and I was terrified. Today was the day second years were to summon their familiar, and I had made some foolish boasts as to what I would summon. I have never been good at magic, I always summon nothing but an explosion, but I told everyone I would summon something even better than everyone else's familiars combined.

In hindsight, that was stupid of me.

As I spoke the chant, everyone's eyes were focused on me, nobody seemed to know what to think. I brought down my wand and, as expected by everyone, an explosion happened. I was knocked back and fell on my behind. Before I could see what happened, or even what anyone else thought, I felt metal pressed to my throat.

I looked up and saw that the metal belonged to a sword, a sword held by a girl who couldn't be any older than 13. She was standing in the middle of the crater that I guess my explosion made. She had long black hair that came down to her waist, and a pendant hung around her neck. She was dressed in a black shirt and pants, but I couldn't tell what they were made of. She also had what looked like a long black coat. But what stood out most about her was her eyes. They were as red as a fire, and they were full of killing intent.

She glared at me. "Who are you and how did you bring me here?"

It took a few seconds before I realized what had happened. This girl, this fire eyed girl, was what I had summoned. She was my familiar.

Her grip on the sword tightened. "Who are you?" She asked angrily.

"Be calm. I don't sense any killing intent from anyone, and they don't appear to be denizens," said a voice from nowhere. "Please miss, before she kills you, would you kindly explain what we are doing here?"

"M-my name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, and I think I just summoned you as my familiar."

Then the crowd starts laughing. "She summoned a commoner as a familiar! What a zero!"

Then the girl I had summoned glared at the crowd and they all fell silent. Mr. Colbert decided to speak up.

"Um... Okay, the ritual must continue."

I couldn't believe what he just said. "W-w-with her? B-but it's indecent!"

Colbert gave me his own glare, and I resigned myself to the fact that I had to do this. I turned to the fire eyed girl.

"Please don't kill me for this, I don't have a choice in the matter," I tell her, scared of what her reaction will be.

"What are you talking about?" She asks me.

Before she can respond, I get closer, and press her lips to mine for a brief second. I pull away immediately.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO!" I recoil in fear at her reaction.

"I-I'm sorry! I had to complete the familiar contract ritual! There was no other way!"

The fire eyed girl looks ready to shove her sword through me, but then she drops her sword, falls to her knees and grasps her left hand.

"What did you do to her?" Asks that voice from nowhere.

"It should be over in a minute, it's just the familiar runes being carved." I say. I don't know who I'm talking to, but he doesn't sound like someone I want to anger.

Eventually, the girl stands back up and examines her left hand. I look at it and see runes I've never seen before.

"Um... Are you going to kill me now?" Considering how she reacted, I can only assume she's going to kill me now. Could that happen? Could a familiar turn and kill their master?

I see her lower her head and she appears to be deep in thought. "You will take me to your residence, and you will tell me what is going on," she tells me coldly.

I nod. "Yes. Yes I will."

She puts her sword into her coat where it actually disappears without a trace. Then she takes off her coat, whips it around, and it too disappears.

She looks at me, and I notice her eyes have changed color. Now they're black, and they seem much warmer, though still very ready to strike me down if I'm a threat. "Well, shall we go?"

I begin walking towards my room, and the girl follows me. I can't help but steal a glance at Kirche. She, and everyone, seems absolutely terrified at what just happened, and I don't blame them. Unless our eyes were deceiving us, I just summoned a noble for a familiar. Saying nothing, I simply kept walking towards my room.

"He was supposed to be my first." I hear the girl mutter to herself as we head towards my room. It might be my imagination, but I thought I heard sadness when she said that.

*End*

Look for the first chapter October 10th! Thanks for the all the support, I'll see you all next time.


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